Ryan McNeil
I don’t rattle easy when I watch a movie – REDACTED (* * * *) got me pretty good. It’s a fictional account of an alleged incident that happened in Iraq during the current gulf war. An incident which has since been redacted. The story goes that an American Marine unit stormed into a civilian home in Samarra, raped a 15-year-old girl, killed her mother, grandfather and baby sister, before killing her too. Whether it’s true or not is unknown…but if it didn’t happen, Brian De Palma’s movie sure does give you a clear image of how it would have gone down.
The film is all done using handicams and other digital recorders. All of it makes for a very real looking account, which also makes it all very disturbing. I cannot stress this enough – this film is not for the faint of heart. If you think you can tough it out though, check it out. You will not forget it. I was really fascinated by the way the film was constructed, which along with the aforementioned digital footage uses webcam chats, youtube postings, and video blogs to further the story.
At the premiere this afternoon, the first thing I noticed was the silence of the crowd as the credits rolled. It was as if everyone was as shell-shocked as me. Brian DePalma was on hand for a rather informative Q&A, as were four actors from the film including Rob Devaney and Ty Jones. DePalma made no secret of the fact that he felt the need to make this film because he believes the truth about America in Iraq is being concealed.
Afterwards, I actually got to speak with the cast for a few moments when they came out the stage door at The Ryerson. They were all very friendly, humble, and gracious. The funny thing was, that with only five to ten film goers waiting at the stage door, the volunteers didn’t even bother to form their now famous “human chain”. I got some good photos which I’ll likely post tomorrow.