Monday, November 4, 2013

POST 7: THE NOTION OF POWER as exemplified in Brian De Palma's Redacted movie


( Videos will be here soon, for the moment it doesn't work )

"Redacted" is a movie released in 2007 by Brian De Palma. It deals with american soldiers during the Irack war. The sequences are shot as if it was a soldier who was filming, it conveys a sense of plausibility but it is also very shocking. In fact the main goal of the movie is to show what was hidden by the US government concerning their intervention in Irack. The issues in relation to the notion of power that seem to be tackled are the US military power, the US government capacity to keep some information from people, and more generally the power of a man practised on an other illegally. Furthermore, this movie also suggests that cinematography can be powerful to denounce some abuses.
 
A review from revcom.us :
 
Redacted from director Brian De Palma is a must see. This film is a work of conviction which boldly and angrily exposes the carnage and misery that has been the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq—the reality behind the mass media lies, talking points, and sanitizing of the U.S. destruction of Iraq and its people. Concentrating on the actions of one unit of soldiers, it gives a focused glimpse of what the U.S. military machine has brought down on the people of Iraq, the indescribable crimes it continues to commit, and the mentality that the troops are inculcated with and that many become steeped in. It presents a devastating portrait that stands as a much larger metaphor—a challenge to those who want to turn away and hide their eyes from these atrocities.
 
Redacted is centered around a true story. In March 2006, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi, was raped, shot in the face, and burned along with other members of her family by U.S. soldiers. Speaking after the film won the Silver Lion award for best director at the Venice Film Festival, De Palma said, “The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people. The pictures are what will stop the war…"
 

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