Redacted (film)

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"Redacted" redirects here. For other uses of the word, see Redact.
Redacted

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Brian De Palma
Produced by Laird Adamson
Mark Cuban
Jason Kliot
Christopher Matson
Gretchen McGowan
Simone Urdl
Joana Vicente
Todd Wagner
Jennifer Weiss
Written by Brian De Palma
Starring Kel O'Neill
Daniel Steward Sherman
Cinematography Jonathon Cliff
Editing by Bill Pankow
Distributed by Magnolia Pictures[1]
Running time 90 min.
Country Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Canada Canada
Language English
Budget $5 million
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Redacted is a film written and directed by Brian De Palma that premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, where it earned a Silver Lion "best director" award.[2]. This film is a companion to an earlier film by De Palma, 1989's Casualties of War. It was shot in Jordan.[3]

It is a drama based on the Mahmudiyah killings, the gang-rape, murder, and burning of Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in March 2006 by U.S. soldiers who also killed her parents and her younger sister.[4][5]

The film was also shown at the Toronto Film Festival, the New York Film Festival and the Independent Film Festival of Buenos Aires, Argentina (BAFICI). The film opened in Spain, and in fifteen theaters in limited release in the United States on November 16, 2007. It is scheduled to open in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2008.[6] So far, the film has received mixed reviews.[7] The United States limited theatrical release had a poor response at the box office.[8][9]

Contents

[edit] Cast

  • Francois Caillaud — McCoy's buddy in bar
  • Patrick Carroll —PFC. Reno Flake
  • Rob Devaney — SPC. Lawyer McCoy
  • Izzy Diaz — PFC. Angel Salazar
  • Mike Figueroa — SGT. Vazques
  • Ty Jones — MSG. Jim Sweet
  • Paul O'Brien — Barton's Father
  • Kel O'Neill — Gabe Blix
  • Abigail Savage — Ranting Teen
  • Daniel Stewart Sherman — Specialist B.B. Rush

[edit] Critical and audience reception

Redacted has received mixed reviews from critics. As of May 19, 2008 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film was rated "rotten", with 56% of the 91 reviews negative.[10] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 52 out of 100, based on 30 reviews, and a user rating of 4.0/10.[11]

Critic responses were equally varied. Michael Medved said "it could be the worst movie I've ever seen".[12] However, Kyle Smith gave the movie a 3 star (out of 4) rating.[13]

On the weekend of its US release the movie was viewed by approximately 3,000 people, grossing $25,628.[14] To date, it has a total U.S. gross of $65,388.[15] The worldwide gross as of May 19, 2008, was $762,252.[14]

Brandon Gray, publisher of Box Office Mojo, said the low per-theater ratio made the film a flop for De Palma.[9] Richard Johnson ran an article titled "De Palma Iraq flick bombs".[16] Catherine Elsworth, writing in the Daily Telegraph, also said that the theatrical release had bombed in the US.[17]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Political Controversy

The film has attracted political controversy, with claims that it portrays US soldiers in a negative light, and may contribute to anti-American sentiment in Iraq and elsewhere. Sites like "boycottredacted.com" have accused Brian De Palma and Mark Cuban of treason, and called for the general public to avoid watching the film. Republican Duncan Hunter, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee complained in a letter to the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America that the film "portrays American service personnel in Iraq as uncontrollable misfits and criminals" and "ignores the many acts of heroism performed by our soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors in Iraq."[18] However, critic Kyle Smith opined that "De Palma isn't trying to insult the troops but illustrating how any war puts men in impossible situations."[19]

De Palma himself has commented "the right wing is gonna come at this film. I mean, I've done something that is, it just can't be done. You can't ever say anything critical of the troops."[citation needed] He argues that the film provides a realistic portrait of U.S. troops and how "the presentation of our troops has been whitewashed" by mainstream media. He expects that its graphic images will stir public debate about the conduct of American soldiers.[20]

Commentator Bill O'Reilly has called for protests of Redacted and Mark Cuban. O'Reilly claims that the film demeans American soldiers and may incite violence against the troops, and he has called on ticketholders to bring signs to Dallas Mavericks games and all theaters showing the movie, stating 'Support the Troops'.[21] Mark Cuban has responded, saying "The movie is fully pro Troops. The hero of the movie is a soldier who stands up for what is right in the face of adversity... I think that the concept that the enemy will see these films and use it as motivation is total nonsense. We have no plans of translating these movies to Arabic or other middle eastern languages...It's really easy to hate, its really hard to think issues through on their own merits. Anything that makes people think about issues is a good thing." He also points out that, through the Fallen Patriots charitable fund that he set up and finances, over $2.5 million dollars has been donated to soldiers in need.[22] He went on to publish an email he received from a soldier wounded in Iraq, who wrote "they've already formed their opinions of us and very little we do or say is going to change their minds. One movie, regardless of its subject matter, is not going to overcome their personal feelings".[23]

De Palma has been criticized for not including the fact that all of the soldiers involved in the real-life Mahmudiyah killings were prosecuted for the rape and murders. The film ends with an official investigation underway, and does not depict a trial or conviction. Kurt Loder wrote that "all five of the soldiers involved (in the rape and murder) were arrested and charged, and three have been tried and sentenced to 90, 100 and 110 years in prison." In addition, the alleged ringleader, Pfc. Steven D. Green, is being tried in a federal court in Kentucky and is reportedly facing the death penalty.[24] However, De Palma points out that the film itself is fictional; HDNet's lawyers told him he couldn't use anything real about the true event - he had to fictionalize it, and wasn't allowed to refer to the real event in any way.[25]

[edit] Photo censorship

During a New York Film Festival press conference for the film, De Palma mentioned that Redacted is itself redacted, due to Magnolia Pictures owner Mark Cuban "being disturbed" by the ending montage's imagery. A voice from the audience called out "That's not true"; with the speaker identifying himself as Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures. The producer of the film later appeared on stage to explain that the images were taken out not because they were disturbing, but because of concerns about the possibility that relatives of the dead persons appearing on the photographs might bring lawsuits for emotional distress and the like. Magnolia, he said, had been put in "an untenable legal position" making the movie uninsurable.

In an interview conducted the day after the uproar at the press conference, Cuban said, "There is no way I am going to include images of people who have been severely wounded or maimed and killed when the possibility exists that their families could unknowingly see the images and recognize a loved one." He also said that Magnolia had offered De Palma the option of buying the film back from the distributor in order to release it himself and "absorb 100 percent of the risk", but that De Palma did not accept.[26] DePalma responded, "That's not true. He never offered me that opportunity, he never answered my phone calls." [27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1185714-redacted/ Retrieved 2007-09-12
  2. ^ Jason Solomons. "Brutal Iraq film is Venice hit: Award for real-life story of rape by US soldiers", The Guardian, 2007-9-9. 
  3. ^ Aloisi, Silvia. ""Redacted" stuns Venice", Reuters, 2007-08-31. Retrieved on 2007-08-31. 
  4. ^ Abdul-Ahad, Ghaith. This film is a companion to an earlier film by De Palma: Casualties of War. "We have been silent about many crimes but we will not stand rape". The Guardian, 20 October 2006.
  5. ^ Josh White. "Ex-Soldier Charged in Killing of Iraqi Family", The Washington Post, July 3, 2006, p. A01. Retrieved on 2007-10-16. 
  6. ^ Redacted (2007) - Release dates. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
  7. ^ Redacted - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  8. ^ Iraq war atrocity film Redacted bombs in US, The Daily Telegraph, Nov. 28, 2007.
  9. ^ a b Joe Garofoli (2007-11-23). Iraq war is hell on the bottom line at the box office. San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ^ Redacted - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
  11. ^ Redacted (2007): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
  12. ^ De Palma Iraq Flick Bombs. New York Post. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
  13. ^ Battle-Scarred. New York Post. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
  14. ^ a b Redacted (2007). Box Office Mojo, LLC.
  15. ^ "Movies 2007: Picks and pans" by Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald, Dec. 27, 2007.
  16. ^ De Palma Iraq Flick Bombs. New York Post. Retrieved on 2007-11-25.
  17. ^ Iraq war atrocity film Redacted bombs in US, The Daily Telegraph, Nov. 28, 2007.
  18. ^ "War film's portrayal of soldiers draws fire from GOP lawmaker", Washington Times, 2007-11-22. 
  19. ^ BATTLE-SCARRED. New York Post (2007-11-16).
  20. ^ Director De Palma disturbed over Iraq film edit Reuters October 19, 2007
  21. ^ BillOReilly.com: The O'Reilly Factor Flash
  22. ^ Mark Cuban (2007-09-04). Me and Bill OReilly.
  23. ^ Mark Cuban (2007-11-17). Subject: This soldiers perspective on the Redacted issue..
  24. ^ "Redacted: Battle Casualty" by Kurt Loder, MTV.com, Nov. 16, 2007, accessed Nov. 25, 2007.
  25. ^ De Palma Defends Redacted From Venice (2007-09-04).
  26. ^ The Redacting of REDACTEDSpoutBlog October 9, 2007
  27. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (2008-03-08). No one wants to know. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.

[edit] External links

[edit] Listening

v • d • e
Films directed by Brian De Palma
1960s–1970s
1980s
Dressed to Kill (1980) · Blow Out (1981) · Scarface (1983) · Body Double (1984) · Wise Guys (1986) · The Untouchables (1987) · Casualties of War (1989)
1990s
The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) · Raising Cain (1992) · Carlito's Way (1993) · Mission: Impossible (1996) · Snake Eyes (1998)
2000s
Mission to Mars (2000) · Femme Fatale (2002) · The Black Dahlia (2006) · Redacted (2007)