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An Analysis of Symmetry in Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket
There are two elements in the first half of Full Metal Jacket making it undeniably Kubrickian. One is the symmetrical background imagery and it's use through movement to create underlying meaning. The second is a fluid editing style that overlaps shots, using symbolic imagery and subtext to transition scenes. These elements are used to emphasize the contrasting styles of training that a marine, Private Pyle, receives on Parris Island boot camp before the Vietnam War. The contrast is between a traditional militarism drilled in by the sadistic Sergeant Hartman and the other of patient humanism from the film's narrator/protagonist Private Joker. An image of symmetry that coincides with the character development is the synchronized Marines marching or running in the background of scenes. On the surface these are just other marines training in the background as Pyle and Joker are seen in the foreground. Upon close inspection a pattern can be seen in how at certain moments the background marines are moving left to right and at others from right to left. The left to right movement can be seen as the traditional way a character processes information. In the case of Full Metal Jacket it is the traditional way of military training that Sergeant Hartman forces upon Private Pyle. The right to left movement is representative of the non-traditional way that Private Joker embraces to train Private Pyle. The left to right/right to left positions and movements of the characters are all in relation to how the viewer sees them on screen as Kubrick "puts his audience through its own training course"{Nelson, 241}. Drill Sergeant Hartman makes this distinction literally when he slap Private Pyle's face. Pyle confuses which shoulder to place his gun on as Hartman orders out "Left shoulder," then proceeding to slap his left side then right demanding Pyle to distinguish which side is which. Prior to the slap, the squad, on the far left side of the screen does their first cadence march towards the camera as it tracks backward. We see from the left side of the frame another squad march from left to right behind them.
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If you're not completely signed away by the start of this over-indulgent analysis, read the full essay at the link provided.
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Contributor's Note
When the past meets future for Jason, the moment is fueled by a creative background in music, writing, film and philosophy providing a nexus of the complex world to come. He is currently a freelance writer and ghostwriter of books, articles and screenplays.
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Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket"
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