Aka Lou Diamond Phillips, he was a good solder until that one mistake he did by shooting at his superior officer. If you was in his place ,what would you have done if she said she would report you for mutiny and wounding her?
shareActually, he had screwed up plenty before he shot Walden. He WAS guilty of mutiny. The accidental shooting only happened after that. Hardly "one mistake". I don't feel sorry for him.
shareEven though he was a bad boy, he sure looked fine donning his boxing regalia.
So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.
Indeed. He made plenty of mistakes.
1) He started a mutiny.
2) He encouraged others to follow him.
THEN he accidentally shot her. I did feel a little sorry for him when he realised he shot her, but all in all, he was an idiot and disobeyed orders.
Obviously, then when he said she was dead and left her behind, that was just being a bastard.
If he hadn't shot her, he would still have faced serious charges for the mutiny.
I wouldn't. I would not try to mutiny. And frankly, the man was inlove with his image while watching in horror as the realities of his character came through. He was a good soldier. She wasn't out to court-martial him because he shot her. That was accidental. She warned him because mutiny is not something people should be let off easily on. She was doing her job. He was thinking of himself. A trait that flies in the face of the Seven Core Army Values. And the very motto of the Army: Never leave a man behind. But honestly? I shouldn't be explaining this. This should be a conscience decision. It's about owning up to your decisions and accepting the consequences. He would have left a man behind. I only hope I can show the courage Capt. Walden's character showed. Or that Col. Serling showed.
shareI feel no remorse for Monfriez, and the fact that this question--in its present incarnation--is being asked is frankly embarrassing. Just my two cents.
It makes me sad to read the Op's post. That anyone can think like that. "One little mistake". Mutiny, shooting an officer, saying she was dead when he knew she was alive when they left her. How much cowardice does it take for you to see the truth?
I sincerely hope you are not in any position where someone else has to depend on your honor. The really sad thing is I see examples of this kind of thinking everyday from my own generation.
This is probably too heavy for the IMDb boards...I may remove it later.
I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.
I wouldn't go so far to portray him as a monster, and to a point he was sympathetic, but it was more than one mistake.
The mutiny aspect, in my opinion, was grossly blown out of proportion by Walden. While he was trying to convince everyone to run, I actually don't think he would've. He was too freaked out to do anything like that.
Him shooting her was an accident and parallels Denzel accidentally killing his friend. He was clearly upset at his actions and his "I'm sorry" seemed genuine.
Where Walden mucked up, in my opinion, is that she ultimately panicked as well. She refused to let Damon patch her up when Damon had only asked her to listen to him. Walden at this point nearly instigated her own mutiny, as I would deem her unfit to lead at that point.
However.....
Monfriez did a VERY bad thing by telling them that she was dead. While Walden was unfit to lead in the night, she appeared to have regained her senses when she stayed behind. Monfriez doing that was no way justifyable.
But I still think in the long run he managed to be somewhat sympathetic. His yelling at the trainee about 'never leaving a man behind' carries more weight when you know what he actually did. By that point, he hates himself because he now knows that he was a coward. In contrast to Walden, who ended up showing great strength in the long run under immense pressure, he flipped out and couldn't take it.
He simply represented the good and bad of such chaos. He wasnt a hero, nor a monster.
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His yelling at the trainee about 'never leaving a man behind' carries more weight when you know what he actually did
Another scene that carries more weight when you know what he actually did is the last scene he has with Denzel, which goes something like:
"You killed one of your own men -- how does that feel?"
"Very bad"
"It feels very bad. . .and you didn't even mean to do it."
When we first see that scene, we don't know the full implication of what he is saying, and the movie doesn't give us a lot of time to think about it, because right after that he orders Denzel out of the car then he commits suicide. But now that we know what he did, when we recall what he says, and how he says it, it's clear he is carrying a heavy guilt.
I disagree that Walden blew the mutiny out of proportion. In wartime, survival depends on respecting the chain of command. Even though it didn't get to the point of Monfriez leaving (because he shot her, changing the whole dynamics of the situation), he was completely disrespectful to her and encouraged others to act the same way. That's also why she was justified in not letting Damon patch her up. He had joined the mutiny against her, and she is supposed to trust him to provide her medical treatment?
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi
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He wasn't a good soldier, maybe he believed he was or wished for.
He started a mutiny, encouraged others to join, would have left a man behind (the co-pilot) and got his officer that he accidentially shot killed by napalm fire.
On top of that he told Serling that the captain was a coward (why would he do this?) when in reality he was the only coward in the group.
I certainly don't feel sorry for him.
It’s just so sad that the variety of the world should be used as a contentious issue.
Do I feel bad for the burden of guilt that he carried? Yes, absolutely. But it was his burden to carry. There were choices every step of the way and he made them. The initial mutiny, the accidental shooting, the decision to leave her behind to die and then finally the choice - the choice - to try to trash her reputation in order to save face himself. And when he made that choice, Serling didn't even have anything damaging on him. He just didn't want to admit that he suggested going for back-up in the original chopper fight.
To answer the OP, if I were in his place I would have had the same choice come morning that he did - leave her to die or send help back for her and face the consequences of my earlier actions. We all make mistakes in life. I think that what defines our character is how we're willing to face the consequences of those mistakes. Or not.
WTF! Feeling sorry for a traitor. The rules of warfare meant that Captain Walden could have shot him on the spot and she should have done that. The others who were part of the cover up were accessory to the crime and would get life sentence, at the minimum.
shareThey really silifie a few things to the extreme but Lous acting and the circumstances still can´t make him the devil,it can make him a man who made the decision of a coward.
Burt first off,His..."MUTINY"...is him asking all involved,all platoon members if they should split. Ryans character says-No,we´re not leaving...Rawley,Caffrey,something. End of story. Her decision,she the man.
But I understand Monfriez there,at least see what the rest say,they are sitting ducks,it´s life or death. He didn´t go and didn´t really take power by force or try to,he insinuated"maybe not anymore." as to who´s the leader.
The script simplified everything about him and I still can´t help but to understand him a bit. When he says"I WAS a good a soldier...a Good soldier.",I think he refers to overall,his career.... he ask Denzel how it felt to kill his own men,if it hurt,if he thought of it everyday and Monfriez teareyed second that. So...
When he accidentally shoots Sterling,it´s 1. A real,honest,huge,big mistake,they have their weapomns against one another. 2. He says he didn´t mean it,looks regretful but the script doesn´t help Monfriez more then that,we need a baddie. "There will be a reckoning",she says. Both for shooting her and his suggestion"A crime punishable by death.",she of course has to add. Death.
They couyld´ve let us see him show a bit more remorse but he projected his issues through training,telling all those at camp who he bossed arounf that you do anything for your partner,never leave a man behind." In huis way making a mense,dealing with his subconcious guilt his ego keeps pushing down.
Not hipocracy,clearly guilt manifested that way since I believe he had a big ego. He gunned down a few enemies,didn´t seem like a total punk,gave Denzel the permissuion to exit the vehicle,strongly suggesting it,sir and took his life. I believe that overall Monfriez was a good soldier but circumstances or fate,choose,tested hios limits and moral to the max,to his breaking point and this is how he ha´ndled it. He made three gigantic mistakes/idiot things for which I think he should be punished when it comes to one of them,ther obvious one. Thde others one the chopper were like"Huh? She is? Oki..."
Good film,Swick is a good director.
Phillips stiole the film,saw it last night. tired of denzel playing Denzel....and damn,Damons heroin addict was skinny,creepy.