Tonight I saw Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillipe.
It will be the topic of Cinebanter #48, which is available here.
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Soldiers of Conscience
Today I screened the documentary Soldiers of Conscience.
To read my written review on Cinebanter.com, click here.
To read my written review on Cinebanter.com, click here.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
The evening of February 22, I saw Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, a documentary about the atrocities committed in the Iraqi prison.
The film was created by my favorite documentarian, Rory Kennedy and includes interviews with former prisoners, guards and military personnel who were there at the time.
What did I learn? Something I already knew: America should be ashamed of itself. There's really no other way to say it. As this war began, the Geneva Convention was thrown out the window and our soldiers were instructed to torture their captives using the most humiliating and extreme techniques. The photos in the documentary (many of which were seen through various media channels when the scandal was exposed) are still nauseating; the excuses still unacceptable.
What I found to be the most frightening part of the documentary was the nonchalance of the females interviewed, who were all but justifying their smiling photographs demonstrating these horrors. I didn't get any sense of remorse from the women, although all of the men displayed regret and guilt for their actions.
This film should be required viewing in every boot camp training course in every branch of the military.
But that will never happen.
The film was created by my favorite documentarian, Rory Kennedy and includes interviews with former prisoners, guards and military personnel who were there at the time.
What did I learn? Something I already knew: America should be ashamed of itself. There's really no other way to say it. As this war began, the Geneva Convention was thrown out the window and our soldiers were instructed to torture their captives using the most humiliating and extreme techniques. The photos in the documentary (many of which were seen through various media channels when the scandal was exposed) are still nauseating; the excuses still unacceptable.
What I found to be the most frightening part of the documentary was the nonchalance of the females interviewed, who were all but justifying their smiling photographs demonstrating these horrors. I didn't get any sense of remorse from the women, although all of the men displayed regret and guilt for their actions.
This film should be required viewing in every boot camp training course in every branch of the military.
But that will never happen.
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