Codinome 84: A Verdade Sobre o Vietnã

This "mockumentary" was a forerunner to films like The Blair Witch project, and the tension and fear that the soldiers feel, trapped behind enemy lines with a broken radio and a dead comrades body, is a lot more believable than that felt by those three annoying kids running away from things that go "bump" in the night. You really do get a feel for what it must have been like. When the group are ambushed, you hear the gunshots, and the screams, but you just can't see where the enemy are. It must of been hell, getting shot at but not knowing where it was coming from.

The cast of relative unknowns really impresses, especially Nicholas Cascone as "Easy" ("soon to be promoted to PFC: Private F***ing Civilian") and Richard Brooks as "OD", the group's black leader.

The spirit of camraderie and brotherhood echoes strongly throughout this film, exemplified by scenes such as the one where Sgt. "Cracker", a self confessed redneck, is interviewed by the "Lessons Learnt" crew and is asked: "Coming from South Carolina, how do you feel about being led by a black man?". After a strained silence he answers: "Those are real-world questions. They don't have any place here in the Nam. Why don't you ask if OD is the best damn GI I have ever humped a ruck with, or if I would risk my life for him, and I have, or if he would risk his life for me, and he has. Those are the kind of questions you should be asking."

The action is interspersed with long periods of waiting, boredom, and contemplation. The futility of their mission, and indeed the entire war, is brought to the fore. They feel distanced from their loved ones, and long for some time "in the rear with the gear", away from the front lines, which are plagued by a shadow-like enemy and viciously effective booby-traps, not to mention the seemingly endless nights, when trees move just like Charlie.

This movie is recommended not only to War flick fans, but to anybody interested in seeing how a pseudo-documentary should really be made.

7 out of 10