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was trying to say something about the duality of man," he says, "...the Jungian thing, SIR!"Duality of man; duality of film. There are (in the film's developing thesis) two possible motivations for killing people and breaking things - compassion (to defend freedom and turn back despotism; our OFFICIAL purpose in Viet Nam), and annihilation (the perverse joy of revenge, of domination; of blood-soaked victory).Which motivation is more "moral"? Which leads to the "high-ground"? Doesn't annihilation always entail moral decay? And photos doesn't compassion always lead, ultimately, photos to peace, rather than violence? Through Joker's journey, from killer-in-training to killer-in-fact, photos we get a disturbing answer that, by its very simplicity, defies the kind of dumbed-down platitudes most war films (even really good ones like Kubrick's own Paths of Glory) try to feed us. The end finds Joker facing a wounded, disarmed sniper who has killed several of his fellow soldiers, as well as his best friend.
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