This movie was not released in the sense that genric Hollywood sense of touch and for good reason. It is a film for the mature. It is not encouraged for entertainment, however, for those who are seeking the mixture of docu-drama. This is not typical Brian DePalma (who has a touch of the Oliver Stone bite). I will not spoil this film in any way. I cannot.
If I even describe any part of it longer than an paragraph, then, YOU miss the experience. It is very graphic and there is no "arc" or the typical following of a beginning, middle, or end. What I will say is that there is an incident which brings to focus of the central story line as that most of war is redacted. You, the audience, even for the news that you watch, THIS is also redacted. All of what you see on the news is redacted, the brilliance of the title is in the opposite of its parts.
The opening lures the audience right into the middle of the Iraq and into the barracks of a handful of soldiers who have emotionally broken down to the point of a jovial darkness to which most would have never expected. They are the kind of soliders who, intially, joined, for the reasons that we were all told. Some joined for the "college money" that they will never see. Even what soliders are told is "redacted" . This is as far as I will go in to why this film is aptly named "redacted". It is what you will NEVER see on the nightly news. NEVER.
The POV is clever in that the solider isn't the main character, but the the war itself and the mirco-tragedies which follow them like the boogie man living and breathing through their every moment. Even I jumped in several scenes because not only related to soliders, but I (independantly) chose to test for the Navy and Army three times and could not make up my mind which to join or how to give up my own life (for which I half-regret and I am half relieved, simply because War is not merely an experience, but a rearrangement of the core of your soul.
I served with soliders and I served soliders in South Korea. I lived the life of a solider through my father who served WWII and dared NEVER to speak about it, though we lived it in dysfuction of what war does to a man. I also felt for the Iraqi civilians placing myself easily in their shoes (not insurgents) but for the you and me every day people who are often the causualty of collateral damage.
This is why I strictly comment that this film is not for some anger bound jerk who doesn't understand that war is hell. In war there are times that you do what you have to do, but there are others in this particular war who desired to let loose their home grown criminality upon the innocent who could be your mom or your sister, or your daughter.
It could happen at any time on this soil and we should be careful, be very careful when weighing our prejudices. I despised what happened to our people in 2001 and yet I despise that the wrong things were done to attack those who had nothing to do with happened to us. That is why is entire war is so awful, so sad. This is not about "bleed hearts or cold shunted conservatives, this is about all of us. Humanity.
This is a film not for the sqeamish (war is NOT a video game). This is a film for the soldier, veteran, and the civilian--in everyday life-- who becomes a soldier within. A soldier who follows the rare line that " a true solider never desires war".
Each of the soliders are lied to in their deployment status as the soldier who is filming their experiences captures their resentments, their true desires, their foul outlook, and everything in between to the director effectlively and crude cuts to what the other side (the iraqi-civilians and reporters) translate from THEIR POV. The film will switch between points of view and again, this is not for the goofy or easily ADDD types.
It is a film to at least watch more than once to feel the sand of the war in your mouth. I would even say, that a solider who has truly served in this war may say that it is even worse than this, but DePalma at best has enough of an idea to include a military supervisor to keep it real as possible. The movie was filmed in Jordan, so it is as real as it can get (The Hurt Locker will always be a number one classic of the Millineum war films), however, "Redacted" IS a true account only fictionalized for the purposes of protecting the witnesses, the editing of the film and in its location.
"Redacted" has a message with out preaching. YOU are the message. DePalma definately shows signs of awareness and is not afraid to put down the flag for a moment to say "we goofed"; it is called being the American that I remembered growing up. To have the presence of courage to say , we goofed, now how can we get it right? How can we fix this? Again, it is in your own mindset. He allows the film to demonstrate that neither is the winner nor the loser, however, in a deeply bloody tragic sense of a perfect storm of circumstances which was added by the gasoline of politics to which every single human has exploded in fear, in violence, and in their own sense of ethics.
It is a movie to own. A movie that men and women should watch in the frame of mind apart from any "disney dream state". This is about what we will suffer for years to come and for generations to come. DePalma doesn't bother to take sides.
DePalma films this true story as it IS. He takes pains to fictionalize certain aspects of characterization for the purposes of editing (or character compositing), but NEVER to "redact" from the true events itself.
He is honest as well as the actors which are both frightening and relative to even someone you may know. This is a film for the ages in which we cannot turn back, we cannot pretend that this is not only a part of our history, however, a connection to histories past that begs to question: "did we learn anything from the past"?
Own it, watch it and watch it again. No children are allowed to watch this film unless you explain what you are watching. And even then, if it is unclear to YOU what you are watching, understand, that your children should not be watching this unless you lay down your sword and lay down any denial of the truth of war and the ignition behind this particular war.
At the end, photos WILL follow to PROVE to you that this actually happened. This is WHY DePalma has been ONE of my most favorite directors with Stone, Amiel,Fincher,Lynn and (mostly those of the 70s-mid1990s)
FIVE stars for FX, performance, high stress direction by DePalma. Don't miss it. It is NOT just another War Film. It is what your son or daughter, your father or your mother had endured during their time in this never ending tunnel of madness. These are the reasons your own grandfathers are silent or changed after coming home from WWII or VietNam or the Korea War. These are the reasons. Who is the true enemy? It is your call. A tour de force (as they say) Well worth the purchase. The end photos are heartbreaking and shocking. DePalma comes as close as possible and I respect his gift for that.
For emotionally mature audiences only. Not for those under 33 (I mean the childish 33).
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C. Adewoye
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2010