The insecure subjects: battlefield experiences of the soldiers in Apocalypse Now (2001; 1979) and Don’t Burn (2009)

Abstract

This paper continues the discussions on landscape and subjectivity in war films from a comparative perspective. By juxtaposing the battlefield experiences of the soldier as subjects in two films, Apocalypse Now Redux (2001; 1979) and Don’t Burn (2009), the article demonstrates how the landscape contributes to the creation of insecure subjects with experiences of strangeness and danger, where their desires and hopes are shattered. In contrast to previous studies on Vietnam War films that primarily focus on genre, theme, Vietnamese imagery, gender, and ideology, this article employs the theoretical lens of subjectivity as rooted in Deleuze and Guattari to explore the connections that constitute subjects through sensory perceptions, memories, dreams, traumas, and fears manifested through the battlefield landscape as experienced by the characters in the films. This comparative perspective not only challenges previous notions of Don’t Burn [2009] as a film that reflects the views and policies of the state, wherein individual subjectivity is emphasised to promote nationalism as a propagandistic purpose, but also offers multidimensional reflections on the Vietnam War while deeply questioning the ideological system constructed by state institutions within the context of the Cold War.