:
Petra Epperlein,
Michael Tucker,
Petra Epperlein,
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: 
: Palm Pictures
: Documentary, Biographies, Military, Iraq
: 87 min.
: English
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Shortly after President George W. Bush announced that "major combat operations have ended" in the war in Iraq, filmmaker Michael Tucker (a self-described "Army brat" whose father served in Vietnam) traveled to Baghdad, where he and his camera crew were embedded with the 2-3 Army Field Artillery unit, improbably based out of a bombed-out mansion which once belonged to Saddam Hussein and his son Uday. Tucker and his crew spent two months with the soldiers of the 2-3 FA (in September 2003 and February 2004), following the young men and women as they went about their daily rounds in a land where they were welcomed by some and targeted by others. Gunner Palace offers a sympathetic but objective portrait of the American fighters as they go on routine patrol, try to ferret out insurgents, help train Iraqi forces, keep an eye peeled for homemade explosives, police some of the local troublemakers, and for the most part simply try to get through their days without the loss of life and limb in the midst of what they sarcastically call "minor combat operations." Gunner Palace received its world premier at the 2004 Telluride Film Festival and became the first documentary about the war in Iraq to be shot and released while the war was still taking place. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
GreenCine Exclusive Interview
Read GreenCine's exclusive interview with Gunner Palace director Michael Tucker, conducted while he was still shooting the film. Full Article >>
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| Sympathetic yet confused
by SBarnett
March 30, 2006 - 6:49 PM PST
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3 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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| This film inadvertently counters the belief that you can support the troops and oppose the war. It strives to present U.S. soldiers stationed in a former palace in Baghdad "as they are," without judging them or their mission. And the most affecting parts of the film are the interviews with these soldiers, in which we focus more on facial expression and tone of voice than on the words their voices and expressions belie. Yet a great deal of the film consists of embedded footage of "raids"--not firefights but intrusions into the homes and lives of ordinary Iraqis. In these raids we see the troops dismount from their vehicles as if from spaceships onto another planet, encased in body armor and wielding high-tech weapons, shouting orders in a language no one understands, searching for people who are not to be found and finding things they did not expect. Most important, we glimpse the reactions of the Iraqis, but we share their bewilderment, fright, and outrage only by inference. The filmmakers stop themselves from taking this final step--like the soldier who talks about getting over having to kill people, yet speaks with anguish, fear, and alienation on his face. The troops want us to remember them and what they are doing. They themselves evoke our sympathy, but their wish to be absolved for their actions does not. The film was made in late 2003 and early 2004. Events since then have pronounced judgment on their mission and on this film. |
| Our Soldiers in Iraq
by talltale
June 30, 2005 - 4:21 PM PDT
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3 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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It's hard to make a documentary about the war in Iraq without coming down strongly on one side or another. For this reason alone, I wish many more Americans had seen GUNNER PALACE during its short stay in theatres (maybe more will catch it on DVD), if only to listen to what our troops are telling us state-siders from more or less the "front line."
This is not a great documentary by any means, but it's practically all we have, due to our own government's blackout of real reporting and filming, and its inability to disseminate anything honest. (Compared to the sleazy, propagandistic "Voices of Iraq," this movie approaches the Holy Grail.) It's no knee-jerk screed for either the left or the right. It just gives us the guys (and a couple of the gals) in uniform, and we watch as they talk, rap, muse, and go out on assignments that generally harass the populace but sometimes come up with possible insurgents.
I wish that viewers could come to know the soldiers better, but the constant short scenes just don't allow for that. We still see and hear a lot of surprising, sad and odd things; sometimes we can't be sure if remarks are meant as insults or jokes. Other than the location--Iraq, inside Saddam's son's palace, where the grunts now live--there's little context to guide us. But since there is little to guide the soldiers, either, perhaps this is fair.
One of the guys notes that, for us, this is just a movie: we can go home. For them, this is life, and they can't leave. Actually, several of them have--at this point--in caskets. On another online DVD service, almost 200 members have reviewed the dismal "Voices of Iraq," but only a handful so far have covered "Gunner Palace." This seems to me a sad commentary on Americans' lack of interest in an unjust war that we started due to the lies of our own government. I watched this film on the same day that our President gave yet another lame address, again linking Iraq to 9/11--a stance that has been discredited thoughout to rest of the world, including Britain and even much of America. So the soldiers we see in "Gunner Palace" are fighting for what? Clearly, from their own words, they don't know. And considering the extent of our continued apathy, we don't care. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.14)
66 Votes
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