The desert stretches for miles. There is no one but you, your rifle and your fellow soldiers. Sand, heat, isolation, broken relationships, insanity – hell. These were the battles fought by private Anthony Swofford – a war of the psyche brought to light by Sam Mendes after years of assumptions that Desert Storm wasn’t a real war because of a low number of U.S. casualties and a swift timeline.

The camera follows the demanding journey taken by the Marine scout sniper, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, as he works his way through boot camp’s unforgiving realities and eventually a tour in the Middle East. When he and his unit realize it will not be a short stay, they simmer under the unforgiving command of Staff Sgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx) amid the oil-scorched earth that is Northern Kuwait.

As they soon realize their reality is a no-man’s land with a scarce chance to see action, the men are left to their own devices, leading to ritualistic branding, necrosadism and a general dissolve of the mind.

“Jarhead” is not a movie about war, or at least war in the common connotations. It is about a different war – a war fought by machines, planes and long-range ammunition. Somewhere in the middle, the ground troops are stuck in limbo as their nerves fry under the sun for a battle they have spent years training for but will never come.

“Jarhead” is about those lost soldiers and Mendes, who directed the popular suburban satire “American Beauty.” He once again seizes the opportunity to dissolve the assumed and unmasks the toll of the war on a soldier’s mind and life back home.

There is only a couple of drops of blood in the film; however, just as much pain is released through Gyllenhaal’s role. The emotion he pulls from within himself is something subhuman, and his conviction is the true beauty behind this film.

His character is especially challenging with the slowly advancing torture and insanity he must believably mix into the life of a kid whose dream it was to serve his country. There is no better portrayal of a modern-day soldier’s sacrifice for something as intangible, yet ever-present, as “freedom.”

Another equally impressive job is Mendes’ ability to keep the audience enthralled despite unchanging surroundings and uneventful times. His imagery of the burning oil fields and the price paid by Kuwaiti natives are especially vivid and visceral. His shots of the sky blackened with the acrid waste are completely original compared to any other director’s depictions.

Yet the most symbolic and poignant parts of the film are much more subtle. Many of the soldiers wait for their “back-home” relationships to inevitably dissolve and some take it worse than others. Mendes throws a jab at the shallow support from back home – wives leaving, girlfriends cheating, some even starting new families – all within the year the soldiers were away. This looming rejection from their significant others serves as a catalyst for the psychological breakdowns of many soldiers.

This film will be watched for years and new ideas and symbolism will still be pulled from it. Whether it be hypocrisy in the military or his views on human frailness, Mendes once again proves his sadistic ability to take humanity during its darkest moments and make it strangely beautiful.