The film centres around the character of Tom, a young army recruit in an unnamed time and country (presumably World War II-era Eastern Europe) who deserts after an artillery barrage kills his sergeant, in the process blinding a sadistic officer who tries to stop him.
A sadistic officer forced the mother to do situps, resulting in loss of her life.
We see her appropriating the idea for "Reflections in a Golden Eye," her novel about a sexually confused and sadistic military officer, from a story told by her husband, Reeves (Rick Stear).
Eileen Brennan is priceless as the sadistic commanding officer, who can't wait to get her hands on a real-live rich girl - Friday at 10:30 p.m. on TBS.
The first part of the movie is the best, thanks to some tense underwater action sequences and the baleful presence of Mr. De Niro, playing a sadistic, bigoted officer named Billy Sunday.
Vincent (Sab Shimono) is an elegant silver-haired one-time Oscar nominee (best supporting actor, of course) who has always been willing to play subserviently by the industry's rules, which required endless appearances as waiters, houseboys, sadistic Japanese officers and "dumb North Vietnamese generals."
In ways that underscore the cinematic potential of this story, and would actually seem less theatrical on the screen than they do here, our hero has many ugly encounters with the frothing, drooling, sexually sadistic Japanese officer who has singled him out for special torment.
To gain the coveted dozen eggs, Lev must beat a sadistic German officer with the Einsatzgruppen death squads in a game of chess.