thedrifter
03-23-08, 05:45 PM
Tough love
Director exposes difficult topics to begin 'healing'
By Dixie Reid - dreid@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, March 23, 2008
Story appeared in TICKET section, Page unknown7
SAN FRANCISCO – On a sunny day in late February, soldiers assigned to the California National Guard's Bravo Company flew out of Sacramento, headed to Afghanistan, some on their third deployment.
That same day, 170 Marines and corpsmen departed from a base at Twentynine Palms in San Bernardino County, becoming the first Marine Corps unit to be sent to Iraq five times.
"Wow," says writer-director Kimberly Peirce. "That's stop-loss."
She's referring to the U.S. military's policy of sending soldiers into combat again and again, and not allowing them to resign once they've completed their contracted service. It's also the name of Peirce's new movie, a drama about a young Army staff sergeant (played by Ryan Phillippe) who goes AWOL when he's ordered back into battle.
"Stop-Loss" (opening Friday in Sacramento) also stars Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Abbie Cornish. The story is based on Peirce's extensive interviews with American combat veterans and their families.
She has made just one other feature film, "Boys Don't Cry," the 1999 drama about a real-life Nebraska girl who pretended to be a boy and was murdered. Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of Brandon Teena.
"I'm going to tell stories that break my heart and move me, and that I feel we need to understand," Peirce says in an interview at the Ritz-Carlton. "I go in with a huge curiosity about something I care about but don't fully understand. I didn't understand the soldiers' point of view; then it became my quest. I needed to understand, I needed to collect the footage. And then once I had it, I wanted to tell the story.
"I don't think we're on the earth all that long, and how many movies am I going to make? I'm going to make a lot more than I have in the last few years. Nothing is more satisfying to me as a director than moving an audience, and if I can do any good for my culture, I would like to."
The idea for "Stop-Loss" jelled after Peirce's younger brother enlisted in the Army following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She started to work on a documentary, interviewing soldiers to understand what her brother faced.
The soldiers told her about fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan – about killing the enemy, and sometimes the innocent, of seeing their buddies wounded and dying, and then how they struggled to fit into their old lives back home. They were unhappy with how the war was being fought and questioned why the United States was there.
One day Peirce's brother text-messaged her from Iraq with news of his friend, a decorated soldier who had completed his military contract and was heading home to his family. The Army stop-lossed him and sent him back into combat.
At that moment, Peirce found the story she wanted to tell.
Nearly 1.7 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since September 2001 – and nearly 600,000 soldiers have served more than once, according to a U.S. House of Representatives document published Feb. 27.
The document also noted that the Army used "stop-loss authority" to prevent about 8,000 soldiers from leaving the service and that repeated deployments have led to desertions.
Some of the soldiers Peirce talked to called it a "back-door draft," this recycling of personnel.
"These are the people who went out and volunteered after 9/11. Look," she says, "we're all patriotic, and I don't think signing up makes you more patriotic, but you are willing to die for your country. So, you go over there, you do everything right, and you come home and want to put it behind you. There is such a sense of betrayal, such a sense of frustration. You wanted to sign up, and if you had wanted to re-enlist you would have, but you didn't.
"That's why it was so moving to me, the patriotic soldiers feeling so betrayed."
Peirce set "Stop-Loss" in a Texas military town where the returning soldiers are given a heroes' welcome and a parade.
Best friends Brandon (Phillippe) and Steve Shriver (Tatum) grew up together and fought together in Iraq.
Shriver comes home to his fiancée, Michele (Cornish), and their childhood pal Tommy Burgess (Gordon-Levitt) comes back to a crumbling marriage (Mamie Gummer, Meryl Streep's daughter, plays his wife).
When Brandon gets his orders to return to Iraq, he goes on the lam with Michele, a close family friend who is like a sister, and with his parents' blessings. Out there on the run, he finds other stop-lossed soldiers looking for a way out.
"The movie is about camaraderie, family, love, loyalty and duty," says Peirce. "I believe in storytelling. I think as a culture, there is a beginning to the healing if you tell the stories."
Ellie
Director exposes difficult topics to begin 'healing'
By Dixie Reid - dreid@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, March 23, 2008
Story appeared in TICKET section, Page unknown7
SAN FRANCISCO – On a sunny day in late February, soldiers assigned to the California National Guard's Bravo Company flew out of Sacramento, headed to Afghanistan, some on their third deployment.
That same day, 170 Marines and corpsmen departed from a base at Twentynine Palms in San Bernardino County, becoming the first Marine Corps unit to be sent to Iraq five times.
"Wow," says writer-director Kimberly Peirce. "That's stop-loss."
She's referring to the U.S. military's policy of sending soldiers into combat again and again, and not allowing them to resign once they've completed their contracted service. It's also the name of Peirce's new movie, a drama about a young Army staff sergeant (played by Ryan Phillippe) who goes AWOL when he's ordered back into battle.
"Stop-Loss" (opening Friday in Sacramento) also stars Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Abbie Cornish. The story is based on Peirce's extensive interviews with American combat veterans and their families.
She has made just one other feature film, "Boys Don't Cry," the 1999 drama about a real-life Nebraska girl who pretended to be a boy and was murdered. Hilary Swank won an Oscar for her portrayal of Brandon Teena.
"I'm going to tell stories that break my heart and move me, and that I feel we need to understand," Peirce says in an interview at the Ritz-Carlton. "I go in with a huge curiosity about something I care about but don't fully understand. I didn't understand the soldiers' point of view; then it became my quest. I needed to understand, I needed to collect the footage. And then once I had it, I wanted to tell the story.
"I don't think we're on the earth all that long, and how many movies am I going to make? I'm going to make a lot more than I have in the last few years. Nothing is more satisfying to me as a director than moving an audience, and if I can do any good for my culture, I would like to."
The idea for "Stop-Loss" jelled after Peirce's younger brother enlisted in the Army following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She started to work on a documentary, interviewing soldiers to understand what her brother faced.
The soldiers told her about fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan – about killing the enemy, and sometimes the innocent, of seeing their buddies wounded and dying, and then how they struggled to fit into their old lives back home. They were unhappy with how the war was being fought and questioned why the United States was there.
One day Peirce's brother text-messaged her from Iraq with news of his friend, a decorated soldier who had completed his military contract and was heading home to his family. The Army stop-lossed him and sent him back into combat.
At that moment, Peirce found the story she wanted to tell.
Nearly 1.7 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since September 2001 – and nearly 600,000 soldiers have served more than once, according to a U.S. House of Representatives document published Feb. 27.
The document also noted that the Army used "stop-loss authority" to prevent about 8,000 soldiers from leaving the service and that repeated deployments have led to desertions.
Some of the soldiers Peirce talked to called it a "back-door draft," this recycling of personnel.
"These are the people who went out and volunteered after 9/11. Look," she says, "we're all patriotic, and I don't think signing up makes you more patriotic, but you are willing to die for your country. So, you go over there, you do everything right, and you come home and want to put it behind you. There is such a sense of betrayal, such a sense of frustration. You wanted to sign up, and if you had wanted to re-enlist you would have, but you didn't.
"That's why it was so moving to me, the patriotic soldiers feeling so betrayed."
Peirce set "Stop-Loss" in a Texas military town where the returning soldiers are given a heroes' welcome and a parade.
Best friends Brandon (Phillippe) and Steve Shriver (Tatum) grew up together and fought together in Iraq.
Shriver comes home to his fiancée, Michele (Cornish), and their childhood pal Tommy Burgess (Gordon-Levitt) comes back to a crumbling marriage (Mamie Gummer, Meryl Streep's daughter, plays his wife).
When Brandon gets his orders to return to Iraq, he goes on the lam with Michele, a close family friend who is like a sister, and with his parents' blessings. Out there on the run, he finds other stop-lossed soldiers looking for a way out.
"The movie is about camaraderie, family, love, loyalty and duty," says Peirce. "I believe in storytelling. I think as a culture, there is a beginning to the healing if you tell the stories."
Ellie