BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

US, 1989, 144 minutes, Colour.
Tom Cruise, Willem Dafoe, Raymond J.Barry, Caroline Kava, Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Berenger, Frank Whaley, Stephen Baldwin, Lili Taylor.
Directed by Oliver Stone.

Ron Kovic was the all-American type of the mid-'60s (even really born on the 4th of July): top athlete, clean-cut idealist, patriot and the American Dream before him. He wanted to go to Vietnam, saw action, was wounded and was confined to a wheelchair as a paraplegic, had a hero's welcome home despite an atrocious hospital and recuperation experience, and gradually began to see another side of the war. It was a journey from innocence to disillusionment and protest.

Kovic and director Oliver Stone (Salvador, Platoon, Wall Street, Talk Radio) have written a strong screenplay and Stone has directed with his almost physical intensity to make this a memorable piece of Americana. Though two and a half hours long, it speeds by - almost needing even more of Kovic' experiences. But Tom Cruise gives such an intelligent and empathetic performance that watching him makes us feel he is Kovic and we can share his experiences.

1.The impact of the drama? Performances? Memory of Vietnam and its aftermath? American politics and society? The film and its acclaim, awards?

2.Oliver Stone and his tough film-making, memories of Vietnam and interpretation? Ron Kovic and his life, writing, reliving his life? An authentic interpretation?

3.The '50s, Long Island and youngsters growing up in the stable '50s? Long Island in the '60s? The contrast with Vietnam and the battlefields? The Bronx and the home for convalescents? Long Island in the '70s - and the turmoil of the aftermath of Vietnam? Mexico? Miami? The visit to Wilson's home and the Midwest and South? The conventions for the 1972 elections?

4.The structure of the film: the episodes in Ron Kovic' life, the editing and the transition from one phase to the next? The background score? The range of songs? The American style, the '60s and '70s, popular songs?
5.The title and its irony about the United States, Ron Kovic' birthday, the parades in the small towns and the recognition of war heroes - and the glorification of war?

6.The pre-credits sequence: the children and their play, innocence, the war games, Ron and his friends, the '50s - a flashback from the perspective of the war experience?

7.The 4th of July, the parade, the kids, the shooting, the veterans and their marching, fireworks? Ron and his parents and his family? Americana? Later parades and Ron's presence, in the car, the platform, the official and his praise of Ron's achievement in war, the lists and the speech? The contrast between the war memories celebrated in the '50s and in the '60s?

8.Ron as an athletic young man, at school, wrestling? His not winning - his own experience, his mother's expectations? His sense of failure? The support of his father? The Catholic household? The speeches of John F. Kennedy? His motivation, his friends? The ice cream episode? The young girl and his liking her? Baseball? The talk, at the shop and his work? The tension with his mother in the family, finding the copy of Playboy, the religious motivations and the crucifixes?

9.The Marine spokesman and his arriving at the school, the strong speech, the ethos of the Marines, his recruiting appeal? The anti-Communist stance? Ron and his decision to go, leaving the shop? His prayer before the crucifix and his dedication? Not going to the prom dance - and his rushing to it, the dance with his girlfriend - the end of an era?

10.The collage of training? The bonding of the group? The experience of Vietnam, the war tours and the action, the guns, the confusion? The women and children and their being killed? Ron and the confusion, his own men? The bonds between them - but not knowing them well? The retreat, the sunset, the shooting - his having talked with Wilson, killing him? His anguish? Talking with the officer, confessing? The officer covering it up, getting him to forget? Out in the battlefield, his foot, the gung-ho shooting, his being hit, collapse? The black soldier carrying him back? The hospital? His being kept alive? The role of the chaplain?

11.The picturing of the war in the brief sequences, the golden hue of the screen - contrasting with the devastating action? The injuries, the hospital, the Bronx? The black soldiers, the squalor, the rats, vomiting? The scrawny veterans? The angers? Ron and his being unkempt, his dreams (and walking)? The doctor and the discussion about his injuries, telling him the truth? His wanting to walk, struggling with the braces, his falling, his fragile bones? The months passing, in traction? The men, their despair? The drugs and the pain? The appeal for human dignity? The overall experience of this convalescence for Ron? The veterans seemingly forgotten as the country turned against them?

12.His going home, his meeting his family, his meeting his mother - and the reinforcing of the sense of failure? His father and his sympathy? The 4th of July parade, his speech and his inability to speak? Differences at the table, his brother and his stance against the war? His sister's? His mother and her outburst, his getting drunk with his friends, coming home, attack on the crucifix, religion, attack on America itself, the falsehoods that he had been fed? His mother ousting him from the house? Her intransigence? His father and the support? His going to Syracuse and talking with the students, meeting his girlfriend, the demonstrations? The drinking, the Marines?

13.The effect on him of the aftermath of the war, not feeling a man, sense of hopelessness? His seeking out his school friends? Tim and the memories of the past, his way of life, protest? His friend who made success out of business, offering him a job but starting from the bottom up? His sense of worthlessness in comparison with his friends?

14.Going to Mexico, the ugliness of his way of life, finding the Viet veterans? Willem Dafoe as his friend? The angers, the shouting, the language? The men and the gambling? The girls? The prostitutes, Ron and his night with the prostitute, her tenderness, the effect? Lying out in the desert abandoned? Nowhere to go but up? His driving north, the spirit of change?

15.The decision to visit Georgia? The bus ride, seeking out the Wilson family, the difficulty of the visit, meeting the family, beginning to talk, sharing the memories, the mother and father, the widow and her young baby? Their comforting him? His need for telling the truth and to confess? The mother and her care and concern about his pain? The father and his support? The wife and her being unable to forgive but hoping God would forgive? The importance of this confessing experience, coming to terms with what had happened, integrity for himself?

16.The 1972 conventions, the veterans at the convention, their appearance, their effect, the protest? The pro-Nixon placards, the crowds? The political types in support of Nixon? The atmosphere of the convention, the strategists? The march, the shouts, the press and TV? The interview with Ron, his appearance, strong words, denouncing the America that he grew up in?

17.The aftermath of this experience for Ron Kovic? Writing his book? The change of consciousness from the '50s to the '70s? The contrast with his parents and their dreams for him? The journey, his symbolising America? The impact of the war on society, family, individuals? The film as an American examination of conscience?