During 24 months, 2,000 Iraqis were killed at checkpoints with merely 60 proved to be insurgents [View All]

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http://www.reuters.com/article/reviewsNews/idUSN0228523020070902

"Redacted" a shocking and deeply moving Iraq drama

VENICE, Italy (Hollywood Reporter) - Veteran director Brian De Palma's filmmaking skills seldom have been as razor-sharp as they are in his sensational new film, "Redacted," about members of a U.S. Army squad who rape and murder a 15-year-old Iraqi girl and slay her family.

Made on HD video and employing images from digital cameras, video recorders, Internet uploads and old-fashioned film, De Palma's movie is a ferocious argument against the engagement in Iraq for what it is doing to everyone involved.

The harrowing film should find responsive audiences everywhere. It screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival.

Made so expertly that it appears to be assembled from genuine footage, the film details the extraordinary psychological pressure suffered by young soldiers on checkpoint duty in occupied areas of Iraq. It then follows one unit as two of its members skew monstrously out of control.

De Palma's screenplay is outstanding, and he draws wonderfully naturalistic performances from his youthful cast. While sympathetic to the young men who lose their way in horrible circumstances, the film is nevertheless unflinching in its depiction of the horrors that can result. snip

By then, footage from a French documentary about the unit has made clear how the monotony and constant fear of maintaining checkpoints grinds down the men. Constantly being told they have to remain on-duty for a further tour, they are drained and on edge. The documentary reports that during 24 months, 2,000 Iraqis were killed at checkpoints with merely 60 proved to be insurgents. In one such incident, a pregnant woman and her baby are killed when her brother taking her to the hospital races through the unit's checkpoint thinking he's been waved on.