Heaven and Earth

REVIEW
The third film in director Stone's Vietnam trilogy (Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July), based on the true-life perils of a Vietnamese peasant, Le Ly Hayslip (Le). Unique because this intensely melodramatic story looks at the war through the eyes of a woman, viewers will find themselves physically and emotionally drained as the film examines in minute detail the main character's trials which include torture, rape, prostitution and a failed marriage to an American G.I. (Jones). Lushly photographed and laced with fine performances by Le, Jones and Chen, this fiercly impassioned film shows another side of the Vietnam conflict with insight and understanding.