Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this mature Iraq war drama definitely isn't for kids. Based on a true story, it deals with violent acts like rape and murder (including the shooting of a pregnant woman) and shows U.S. soldiers' boredom, fear, and tensions. The closing images of real Iraqi civilian corpses and mourners are especially difficult. Weapons include guns, grenades, and IEDs; other scenes show drinking, the effects of drugs, and cigarette smoking. Not surprisingly given the war-zone setting, language is strong and constant, with more than 100 uses of "f--k" and lots of racist and misogynist slurs.
Families can talk about how the movie uses different types of imagery to suggest the chaos of the war zone. How effective is this strategy? What are the different types of media used? Do some have more impact than others? Why? Families can also discuss what the film is saying about U.S. troops and their training. Are there any heroes in this movie?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
"Welcome to the oven," says Pfc. Angel Salazar (Izzy Diaz) in voice-over narration accompanying his own video. "A.k.a. Camp Carolina, our home away from home in this godforsaken country." He notes the stench, films the barracks, and calls to his buddies to smile as he turns the camera on them. His Iraq "war diary," he says, will be his ticket into film school back in the States.
At the start of REDACTED, Izzy's footage is all about his fellow troops, their complaints and arguments, their naïvete and arrogance. They've all seen this movie before and respond with suspicion: Bookish Gabe (Kel O'Neill) protests the filming ("If you have a camera, you're part of the media, and we're under strict orders not to talk to the media"), while moralistic McCoy (Rob Devaney) pulls out his own camera, proclaiming that "The first casualty of this entire conflict, it's gonna be the truth."
With these brief exchanges, the primary argument of Brian De Palma's movie is clear. He's not just saying that the war is bad, based on lies, or turning young troops into confused victims or traumatized killers. No, his message is that the media have lost any semblance of integrity in their reporting. And if that story isn't precisely news, De Palma's version does arrive in theaters preceded by recent debates over the very possibilities of telling the truth during wartime.
Such concerns were fueled by the film's inspiration, a 2006 case in which American troops in Mahmoudiya raped a schoolgirl and then murdered her and her family in an effort to make the crime look like the work of "insurgents." De Palma's "fictional documentary" assembles a range of materials -- a somber "French-made" documentary, Western and Iraqi news images, clips from Arabic Web sites, and night-vision shots of the rape committed by Angel's buddies, Rush (Daniel Stewart Sherman) and Flake (Patrick Carroll).
There's never a moment when these two characters aren't portrayed as brutish and ignorant, even when they seem unnerved while working checkpoints (Iraqi drivers don't understand the signs or the gestures and tend to drive through in panics) and show genuine upset at the death of their dedicated Master Sergeant (Ty Jones).
These portraits call to mind the thugs who made up the squad in De Palma's Vietnam-set Casualties of War, in which U.S. troops kidnapped, raped, and murdered a local girl. While Sean Penn's performance went a long way toward complicating that horror, Redacted is hampered by awkward acting and obvious point-making. Still, the final sequence -- photos of actual bodies, titled "Collateral Damage" -- is stunning, whether you see the studio's "redacted" (faces-blurred) version or the director's edit, with faces clear. In the end, death is its own truth.
Viewers might want to see other dramas about the Iraq war, including In the Valley of Elah and The Battle for Haditha, as well as documentaries about U.S. troops in Iraq, such as Gunner Palace and Occupation: Dreamland. Or try Casualties of War or Platoon, both Vietnam War movies that deal with rapes or near-rapes by American soldiers.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentFrequent conversations about sexual desire and activity (includes use of words like "p---y" and "boned"). Porn magazines visible in the troops' base camp. Rape scene shows some thrusting and gestures toward the camera -- no nudity, but explicit action. Uncomplimentary discussion of a dead woman's pregnancy. |
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ViolenceOngoing and upsetting violence throughout. A rape is central to the story. Several scenes show shooting and bombs exploding. Images of guns, tanks, and shoulder-mounted grenades. U.S. soldiers man a checkpoint where they shoot up a car that's transporting a pregnant woman to the hospital (some blood). Hospital scene shows blood and chaos. A sergeant is killed by a bomb (his bloody, detached leg flies into the frame and lands on the ground). A woman describes the rapists' brutal possible deaths. |
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LanguageVery frequent swearing, including 100+ uses of "f--k" and multiple uses of "hell," "s--t," "damn," "ass" (some with "hole"), and "bitch." Derogatory words like "ragheads" and "hajji" are also used. |
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Social BehaviorU.S. troops are angry, frustrated, and fearful; several are overtly racist and misogynist. A group of four soldiers rapes a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. She and her family are murdered; the primary villains never show remorse. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSoldiers appear drunk and high and smoke cigarettes frequently. |
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