Tigerland [DVD]

Tigerland is the name of a military base in the United States used for the training of recruits before they are to be sent to fight in the war in Vietnam. The film follows the recruits as they are increasingly pushed to the edge of their physical and mental capabilities by a dehumanising military regime convinced that only by brutalising the men will they be able to sufficiently face the terrors of the war ahead. Starring Colin Farrell as Roland Bozz, a young man whose independent spirit and questioning mind puts him immediately at odds with authority, “Tigerland” is a punishing but compelling view of army life. The actual war is in the background. It is as a study of masculinity, repressed sexuality and violence that the film is most effective. Usually known for bloated big-budget action films, director Schumacher has instead, in “Tigerland”, utilised hand-held camerawork, minimal special effects and a concentration on the performances of the actors to achieve his effects. As a late addition to the genre of Vietnam war film, “Tigerland” lacks the immediacy and hallucinatory contradictions of films such as “Apocalypse Now” or “The Deerhunter”: in many ways, for all its kinetic editing and camerawork, it is a traditional genre film. Nevertheless, the performances and the energetic direction ensures that it is both exciting and confronting.