Shadow Company

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Shadow Company

Movie poster for Shadow Company
Directed by Nick Bicanic
Jason Bourque
Produced by Nick Bicanic
Remy Kozak
Written by Nick Bicanic
Jason Bourque
Starring Robert Young Pelton
Peter W. Singer
Music by Andrew Wanliss-Orlebar
Cinematography Jarred Land
Editing by Les Lukacs
Distributed by Purpose Films
Release date(s) August 23, 2006
Running time 86 min.
Country USA
Language English
IMDb profile

Shadow Company is a documentary directed by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque. It is an introduction to the mercenary and private military company industry, concentrating on the role the industry has been playing in recent conflicts. It was released on DVD on August 2006.

Contents

[edit] Content

The documentary film is not presented with a complete voice narrative nor a linear story-telling structure. Instead, most of the documentary deals with the issues presented in a topical fashion. There are three primary methods that the filmmakers use to organize and present information. The first is through the personal account of a security contractor named James, the second is to pose questions and directly answer them, and the third method is to utilize small case studies.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Letters from James

At certain intervals in the documentary, the audience is read different letter excerpts from a security contractor named James (voiced by Gerard Butler). The letter scenes explain the details of James’ work and life in Iraq and a small amount of his personal history. Much of the comedy from the documentary is displayed in these scenes. In addition, the letters serve as an opener and a closer for the interview portions of the documentary.

One scene displays a quick montage of James’ life up to Iraq. The viewer finds out James was a graduate of Oxford University. Sometime after graduation he joined the British military and later on performed bodyguard work in Milan and Paris. When the audience listens to his first letter, they find out that he quit his last job at a law firm before heading to Iraq.

His new line of work in Iraq involves being a security contractor for a reputable private military company. He says he is on a ‘six on three off rotation’, which means he works for six weeks, before getting three weeks of off time, and the letters are written in the six week time frame. Also he mentions working out of a villa contained in the Green Zone, the area where the Coalition Provisional Authority resides.

What is interesting about James’ account of Iraq is his everyday observations as a foreigner. For example, he notes that nearly all of the Iraqi males have mustaches. In addition, he eats lamb much of his time there and also ends up watching pirated DVDs of popular Hollywood movies. He also shares his adventures from work. This includes how his firm procures weapons like AK-47s and PKMs from the Sadr City bazaar, and how the American military or his firm deals with insurgents.


[edit] Interviewees

Listed in the press release[1]:

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Dallaire, Romeo, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, Carroll & Graf, 2004


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