Redacted claims to be a fictional story inspired by true events. How much artistic license writer and director Brian De Palma has taken is an unknown element, so with quasi-documentary movies such as this, everything needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. The Telegraph called Redacted “Shocking, harrowing, chilling, incendiary.” It’s a nice quote but I’m not sure it’s relevant anymore. Sure there is a shocking scene in the movie that will leave a lasting impression, but as far as incendiary goes, I don’t know. I don’t know because I’m afraid that the audience may already be too cynical or over informed of some of the events that have taken place in Iraq. In essence there is nothing new in De Palmas anti war message.
The style in which it has been shot is a little confusing; maybe De Palma was trying to introduce a little ‘fog of war,’ but switching between different styles of storytelling and film technique doesn’t help ground the viewer in the story. Sure it helps to distinguish the different side to the story, but because they are basically all saying the same thing (get out of Iraq) a more cohesive and flowing approach would have told a more compelling tale. I would go as far to say that the direction and message of the film was so clear and one sided, that we didn’t really need to know how other people saw the events.
The one thing De Palma does well is to be brutally honest about his feelings and he doesn’t cherry coat the events that have been the inspiration for this tragic tale. To be honest, as clichéd as this movie is at times, De Palma does a fantastic job of ending the movie, which is something worth applauding as many movies fail on this final and most important of hurdles.
The big question for me after watching this movie is whether films like this can actually make a difference anymore, or are we as a society so wrapped up in our comfortable lives to worry about what is going on, on the other side of the world. Have we become so passive that we have gone from being the good Samaritan to the person that walks on by and does nothing, purely because we either believe that we can’t do anything about it, or that we’re just to ‘busy’ at the moment?
If Redactive can encourage us to look inwardly and honestly critique who we are, then it would be one of the best movies of the year. Sadly I think most people will see it as just another anti war propaganda piece.
If you’re going to watch Reacted, please do it as a group and be prepared to honestly analyse not only the movie, but also each other afterward. If you don’t, then the whole experience will have been a waste of time.
Reviewed by: Jonathan Read.
Rating: R16 – Violence, Offensive Language, Sex Scenes and Content That May Offend.
Release Date: December 4th, 2008
Length (Minutes): 90
Media Format: DVD
Languages: English
Director: De Palma, Brian
Studio: Directors Suite/Madman
