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03-12-06, 06:02 AM
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Unsparing views of soldiers in Iraq
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Chris Ball
Special to The Plain Dealer
The wars in Iraq hit home hard this month with three dark DVD releases.
"Jarhead," a feature film, and "Occupation: Dreamland," a documentary, invaded stores last week; "Over There," a TV series, lands Tuesday, March 21.
All three aim to show the deadly daily grind facing U.S. soldiers stationed in and around Iraq. The 2005 productions won't settle any foreign-policy debates, but they bring the war into sharper focus. The harsh realities of this distant conflict can be difficult for overwhelmed viewers back home to comprehend, with the U.S. military death toll last week surpassing 2,300.
"Jarhead" depicts the buildup to the first Gulf War. Ex-Marine Anthony Swofford's book about his tour of duty serves as the blueprint. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Swofford as an average, slightly goofy, uncertain soldier.
After the standard, unpleasant, boot-camp indoctrination, the newly minted Marine and his mates mobilize. They wait in Kuwait. They battle boredom and acclimate to the desert. They hydrate and dehydrate. And they try not to get soft.
Rarely do they question why they're there. One soldier says they're fighting over oil for rich white men. An older soldier shuts him up. "[Expletive] politics. We're here. All the rest is [expletive]."
But Swofford shares his fears with a reporter. "I'm 20 years old, and I was dumb enough to sign a contract. I can hear their bombs. And I'm [expletive] scared, yeah."
Still, Swofford's role as a scout sniper seduces him. When the invasion of Iraq ends before he can fire his rifle, he's miserable.
"Jarhead," which also stars an underused Jamie Foxx, cost $70 million and earned $62 million. DVD extras include deleted scenes, fantasies from Swofford's overheated imagination and three featurettes. In "Semper Fi: Life After the Corps," ex-Marines discuss the ups and downs of returning to civilian life (Universal, R).
"Over There" follows a raw Army unit as it joins the current war. The cable-TV show enlists producer Steven Bochco ("Hill Street Blues") but drafts no big-name actors.
When FX pitched the idea to Bochco, he wavered. "I didn't know how to do it without imposing my own political agenda," he says in a DVD featurette. His solution: focusing on drama, not politics, and giving equal attention to loved ones at home.
A soldier loses a leg on a beer run. Others on roadblock duty try to write "Halt" in Arabic. They must rely on poorly trained Iraqi soldiers for help in hunting a bomber. They ponder how to fight an enemy that isn't afraid to die.
Back home, a wife makes her house wheelchair accessible. A husband is the only male at a support group for military spouses. A troubled wife slips into alcoholism and affairs.
Boredom is less a problem than in "Jarhead." The "Over There" troops rescue a kidnapped journalist, find a fortune hidden in a palatial home and meet a beautiful French woman running an orphanage.
Whether due to the heavy topic or the increasingly far-fetched plots, the show tanked. FX canceled it after 13 episodes. The DVD (four discs, 574 minutes, Fox) adds commentary on three episodes (without Bochco) and two featurettes.
"Occupation: Dreamland" makes good use of unrestricted access to the Army's 82nd Airborne unit to obtain jittery footage of life as an occupying force. Tensions rise as troops patrol Fallujah in late 2004, right before U.S. forces flatten the city of 300,000, a suspected rebel stronghold.
Remarkably, stressed soldiers speak their minds despite admonitions by buddies. "I hate these people," one says of the Iraqis. "They don't care about us helping them, so I don't care about helping them," another says. "I'm just waiting to get out of here," says another.
Their frustration and bitterness turn into fear and anger, while the filmmakers remain nonjudgmental observers. This is a bold look at the Iraq war's complexities and a timeless statement on the futility of war itself.
The unrated DVD (Koch) includes four deleted scenes, a timeline, commentary and more.
Ball is a copy editor in The Plain Dealer features department.
To reach Chris Ball:
cball@plaind.com, 216-999-4226
Ellie
Unsparing views of soldiers in Iraq
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Chris Ball
Special to The Plain Dealer
The wars in Iraq hit home hard this month with three dark DVD releases.
"Jarhead," a feature film, and "Occupation: Dreamland," a documentary, invaded stores last week; "Over There," a TV series, lands Tuesday, March 21.
All three aim to show the deadly daily grind facing U.S. soldiers stationed in and around Iraq. The 2005 productions won't settle any foreign-policy debates, but they bring the war into sharper focus. The harsh realities of this distant conflict can be difficult for overwhelmed viewers back home to comprehend, with the U.S. military death toll last week surpassing 2,300.
"Jarhead" depicts the buildup to the first Gulf War. Ex-Marine Anthony Swofford's book about his tour of duty serves as the blueprint. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Swofford as an average, slightly goofy, uncertain soldier.
After the standard, unpleasant, boot-camp indoctrination, the newly minted Marine and his mates mobilize. They wait in Kuwait. They battle boredom and acclimate to the desert. They hydrate and dehydrate. And they try not to get soft.
Rarely do they question why they're there. One soldier says they're fighting over oil for rich white men. An older soldier shuts him up. "[Expletive] politics. We're here. All the rest is [expletive]."
But Swofford shares his fears with a reporter. "I'm 20 years old, and I was dumb enough to sign a contract. I can hear their bombs. And I'm [expletive] scared, yeah."
Still, Swofford's role as a scout sniper seduces him. When the invasion of Iraq ends before he can fire his rifle, he's miserable.
"Jarhead," which also stars an underused Jamie Foxx, cost $70 million and earned $62 million. DVD extras include deleted scenes, fantasies from Swofford's overheated imagination and three featurettes. In "Semper Fi: Life After the Corps," ex-Marines discuss the ups and downs of returning to civilian life (Universal, R).
"Over There" follows a raw Army unit as it joins the current war. The cable-TV show enlists producer Steven Bochco ("Hill Street Blues") but drafts no big-name actors.
When FX pitched the idea to Bochco, he wavered. "I didn't know how to do it without imposing my own political agenda," he says in a DVD featurette. His solution: focusing on drama, not politics, and giving equal attention to loved ones at home.
A soldier loses a leg on a beer run. Others on roadblock duty try to write "Halt" in Arabic. They must rely on poorly trained Iraqi soldiers for help in hunting a bomber. They ponder how to fight an enemy that isn't afraid to die.
Back home, a wife makes her house wheelchair accessible. A husband is the only male at a support group for military spouses. A troubled wife slips into alcoholism and affairs.
Boredom is less a problem than in "Jarhead." The "Over There" troops rescue a kidnapped journalist, find a fortune hidden in a palatial home and meet a beautiful French woman running an orphanage.
Whether due to the heavy topic or the increasingly far-fetched plots, the show tanked. FX canceled it after 13 episodes. The DVD (four discs, 574 minutes, Fox) adds commentary on three episodes (without Bochco) and two featurettes.
"Occupation: Dreamland" makes good use of unrestricted access to the Army's 82nd Airborne unit to obtain jittery footage of life as an occupying force. Tensions rise as troops patrol Fallujah in late 2004, right before U.S. forces flatten the city of 300,000, a suspected rebel stronghold.
Remarkably, stressed soldiers speak their minds despite admonitions by buddies. "I hate these people," one says of the Iraqis. "They don't care about us helping them, so I don't care about helping them," another says. "I'm just waiting to get out of here," says another.
Their frustration and bitterness turn into fear and anger, while the filmmakers remain nonjudgmental observers. This is a bold look at the Iraq war's complexities and a timeless statement on the futility of war itself.
The unrated DVD (Koch) includes four deleted scenes, a timeline, commentary and more.
Ball is a copy editor in The Plain Dealer features department.
To reach Chris Ball:
cball@plaind.com, 216-999-4226
Ellie