AP Reviews Redacted: “A Story That People Need To Know About”
Hollywood mercenaries portraying soldiers in enemy propaganda film “Redacted”
( If you’d like to support the boycott and picketing of “Redacted”, please visit Boycott Redacted.Com.)
And then they say the movie sucks. And apparently, Hollywood feels that people need to know about this story more than they do about the heroes of Iraq.
AP:
Brian De Palma’s outrage over the war in Iraq is palpable in “Redacted,” his fictionalized telling of the real-life rape and murder of a teenage girl by U.S. soldiers.
Certainly this is a story that people need to know about, if they didn’t know it already. His technique, however, tends to be gimmicky and cliched.
The writer-director strays from his typically stylized aesthetic with this stripped-down pastiche of fake footage: a soldier’s hand-held video diary, a French duo’s sepia-toned documentary, TV news pieces and online video from both a terrorist Web site and the blog of an Army man’s wife.
His point, of course, is that we’re not getting a full picture of the war from the mainstream media. But by showing us absolutely everything from myriad perspectives, it feels like De Palma is beating us over the head. Taking this fragmented approach also slows down the pacing of the narrative; just when one part of the story gets going, we get yanked in another direction.
Ironically, “Redacted” might have been more compelling if De Palma had redacted himself a bit—if he hadn’t been so overt, if he’d given us enough credit to think for ourselves and come to our own conclusions about these men and the choices they made. (The graphic ending, a series of photos of the bloodied bodies of slain Iraqi civilians, serves as a harrowing exclamation point. Then again, what else would you expect? This isn’t exactly a filmmaker who’s made his name on subtlety.)
That the unknown cast members mostly look stiff and self-conscious, as if they’re performing an off-Broadway play on film, contributes to the sensation that we’re watching something that’s obviously staged and makes it tougher to become truly immersed.
In revisiting much of the same territory as his 1989 Vietnam picture “Casualties of War,” De Palma presents the tried-and-true types of the genre. Within this unit of soldiers at a checkpoint in Samarra, there’s the bookish Blix (Kel O’Neil); the enthusiastic Salazar (Izzy Diaz), who hopes the video he shoots will get him into film school; McCoy (Rob Devaney), the group’s conscience; the overfed country boy Rush (Daniel Stewart Sherman); and the wild card, Flake (Patrick Carroll). Ty Jones plays their tough-talking sergeant.
There are some moments of genuine tension—a deadly IED attack, a scene in which a couple of Iraqis in a hurry fail to stop their car at the checkpoint with horrifying consequences. But a lot of “Redacted” consists of teasing banter and waiting for the inevitable midnight raid of a family’s home where a couple of suspected terrorists live.
Far from home and fueled by a dangerous mix alcohol and machismo, the soldiers burst in, shooting whomever they please and taking what they believe is theirs. Some of them try to stop it. Others sit idly by and watch. Regardless, they end up turning on each other and tearing each other apart, and none of them is the same man he was upon arriving in Iraq. It’s not a new insight, but one that De Palma depicts acutely.
In real life, a 14-year-old girl was raped and killed in March 2006 in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad; her parents and sister were also killed in the attack. Four U.S. soldiers already have been sentenced for the crime, a fifth has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
De Palma’s clear passion for the subject, and for getting the truth out, makes you wish he’d attempted a real documentary instead.
“Redacted,” a Magnolia Pictures release, is rated R for strong disturbing violent content including a rape, pervasive language and some sexual references/images. Running time: 90 minutes. Two stars out of four.
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The fact of the matter is, as Pat already stated, this is enemy propaganda. Any douchebage associated with this movie - i’m talking actors, directors, editors, whoever - should be damned ashamed at themselves. Calling them AQ sympathizers might not be that far off either. The fact of the matter is, the American people know war is ugly, its simply the nature of the business. Given the sheer nature of war, bad things (atrocities if you choose) are bound to happen. However, the fact remains that US service personnel are the most professional people to take up arms in the history of armed conflict. Given the length and breadth of the war on terror misconduct has been almost non-existent. In this particular incident the military justice apparatus handed down more than 300 man years of incarceration, is that not justice? The incident is regrettable, i wish it didn’t happen. But the fact is Cuban and DePalma don’t give a crap about this incident or its victims, they made it pretty clear who they were after - Americans and more specifically young Americans who are putting their necks on the line for their very right to spit this venom. This incident is simply a guise for their larger agenda. This crap makes me sick, i cant believe how low some people have sunk.
/ rant off
- SD
November 13th, 2007 at 1:29 pmI didn’t see the movie, nor will I ever see the movie, but I wonder if De Palma mentioned that the crime rate among the ranks of the military is far less than the general public. And since the military is made up of members of the public or society, it should follow that the crime rates should be somewhat similar. However this little tidbit doesn’t fit the template and thusly we have another Hollywierd director showing his obvious loathing for the very group of people that make it possible for him to make his living spewing forth filth disguised as a movie.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:34 pmThe only story people need to know, is this movie and all the ilk who support it are full of shit.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:11 pmSome people deserve a solid ass-whooping for their repugnant views. It probably wouldn’t help them much. But who says the therapy of such an action would be for them?
November 13th, 2007 at 2:13 pmPat, show them what real soldier are like.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:27 pmGood post Cridhe, couldnt agree more. Even the actors in this movie are scumbags. Nobody had a gun to their head and made them take this part
November 13th, 2007 at 2:30 pmReally, it is a piece of propaganda. As the reviewer said, dePalma would have done himself a favor if he made a documentary, not that anyone wants to see it. But to try to exploit the murder of a 14 year old, at the expense of the US Army, in the name of “entertainment”? (Isn’t that what movies are supposed to be–entertainment?) Please. I hope DePalma gets his just desserts, soon.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:06 pmI will NOT see this movie, or any movie that makes our soldiers look bad. I want our soldiers to portrayed as the heroes they are.
November 13th, 2007 at 5:06 pm“Brian De Palma’s outrage…”
ROTFLMAO!!!!
“outrage”…. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
First fuckin’ words and couldn’t go any further…
Let’s call the idiot Hollywood Rose…
Go no further you good American boys. Don’t waste your lives. Your continued fighting against the freedom fighters of Islam in this horrible war will get you all killed for nothing. You cannot win. Go home to your mothers and sweethearts…Resistance is futile. All your base are mine.
Oh wait. That sounds like Hairy Weed. And Nancy Pelosi. And on and on and on……
November 13th, 2007 at 7:35 pm