TIGERLAND (2000)
Plot:
Set in 1971, when America was a nation divided over the escalating violence and bloodshed of the Vietnam War, TIGERLAND begins when thousands of young soldiers had already lost their lives to the war, and thousands more were preparing to enter combat. In Fort Polk, Louisiana, a group of young soldiers-in-training has conflicting opinions about the war. Jim Paxton (Matthew Davis) is an idealistic romantic who sees Vietnam as potential inspiration for future novels and romantic war stories. Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell) is a rebellious antihero who decides that he wants no part of the army or the war and begins to disobey orders, trying to get expelled from the infantry. Paxton and Bozz become leaders to a small group of young draftees, and Bozz inspires them to question authority. As they enter Tigerland--a training process in which the soldiers simulate combat in the Louisiana wilderness--the men begin to realize just how far they will go to stay out of the war. This gritty, documentary-like vision of the war is engaging and incredibly moving, employing natural lighting, handheld cameras, and realistic dialogue to encapsulate the deeply internalized psychological journeys of the characters. Irishman Farrell gives a breakout performance as Bozz, replete with intense charisma and brooding outlaw heroism.
Cast/Crew:
Written by: Ross Klavan & Michael McGruther
Directed by: Joel Schumacher
Starring:
Colin Farrell .... Roland Bozz
Matthew Davis .... Jim Paxton
Clifton Collins Jr. .... Miter
Tom Guiry .... Cantwell (as Thomas Guiry)
Shea Whigham .... Private Wilson
Russell Richardson .... Private Johnson
Nick Searcy .... Captain Saunders
Afemo Omilami .... Sergeant Ezra Landers
Notes:
Theatrical
release: September 22, 2000 (NY/LA).
TIGERLAND was shot in 28 days on a military base in Starke,
Florida.
Screenwriter Ross Klavan enlisted in the army reserve in 1971 and did his advanced training at Tigerland.
Director Joel Shumacher conceived the film in the spirit of Danish director Lars Von Trier's Dogma 95, a movement that rejects typical Hollywood artifice such as special effects, elaborate lighting, and sweeping film scores.
The film was shot with 16mm and handheld cameras, using natural light. The actors wore no makeup except for blood or bruising makeup.
Composer Nathan Larsen is the guitarist for alternative punk band Shudder to Think.
Paul Tatara of of cnn.com named TIGERLAND one of the 10 best films of 2000.
The Boston Society of Film Critics named Colin Farrell Best Actor for TIGERLAND.
TIGERLAND screenwriters Ross Klavan & Michael McGruther were nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.
Even
though this movie clearly establishes early on that it takes place
at the real Ft. Polk, Louisiana, USA (including displaying a big,
on-screen, entrance sign at the very beginning), all the sources
of film data describing this movie state that it takes place at
'fictional' Ft. Lake, Louisiana, USA.
The actors had no trailers, makeup artists, hairstylists, chairs
or any of the typical luxuries.
The paperback book Bozz is reading at the beginning of the film is
Dalton Trumbo's
famous anti-war novel "Johnny Got His Gun" about a
horribly wounded veteran of the First World War.
Reviews:
ROLLING STONE REVIEW
PETER TRAVERS
At Fort Polk, Louisiana, in 1971, soldiers undergo advanced infantry training at a facility -- they call it Tigerland -- designed to look, feel, smell and scare like Vietnam. That's the setting for a new movie from director Joel Schumacher that, unlike the holy trinity of Oscar-type Nam movies -- Platoon, Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter -- steers clear of Southeast Asia. Like the first half of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Tigerland focuses on training men to kill right in their own back yard. Schumacher, the director of two critically reviled Batman epics - he's not fond of them, either -- could have competed with the big boys in the usual ways: fat budget, major stars, lofty literary pedigree. Instead, he shot Tigerland on a Florida army base for chump change ($10 million), working with a script by the untried Ross Klavan and Michael McGruther, and a cast of unknowns.
Despite melodramatic lapses -- the gripping action recalls Walter Hill's 1981 Southern Comfort -- this is Schumacher's most ambitious film since Falling Down in 1993, and it plays to his strengths with young actors (The Lost Boys, St. Elmo's Fire, Flatliners).
Colin Farrell excels in the role of Bozz, the cynical soldier who revels in pissing off the brass. Bozz finds loopholes in Army rules to get Cantwell (Tom Guiry) discharged. He also mouths off to any "backed-up sperm brain" -- trainee or officer -- who takes the Army seriously. Paxton (Matthew Davis), a budding writer who chases whores with Bozz on R&R, worries that his desertion-minded friend will be court-martialed, but the officers think there's a leader in Bozz. They just need to wait him out. One gung-ho trainee, Wilson (Shea Whigham), freaks when he sees Bozz rise by flouting authority. In the simulated combat of Tigerland, it's inevitable that someone will use live ammo.
Even when the script overtaxes the allegory about how Vietnam divided a nation at home, Schumacher and the actors prevail by fixing their sights on what happens to men on that last stop before the game of war becomes a grim reality.
Trailers:
- Windows Media Player [HIGH]
- Windows Media player [LOW]
DVD info:
- Director: Joel
Schumacher
- Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
- Rated: [R] Not for sale to persons under age 18.
- Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Home Video
- DVD Release Date: April 15, 2003
- DVD Features:
- Commentary by Joel Schumacher
- Theatrical trailer(s)
- Colin Farrell's screen test
- Widescreen anamorphic format
DVD Review at DVDanswers.com