Redacted

Redacted is Hollywood veteran Brian de Palma’s contribution to the constant stream of feature films about the war in Iraq. This low-budget film, made quietly in order to avoid any controversy limiting him in advance, is based on the rape and murder committed by American troops in March 2006 in Mahmoudiya, to the south of Baghdad.
De Palma portrays this war crime without mercy. He wants the fictional documentary form to do justice to an evil that affects every war: the censorship that politicians and media apply in reporting unwelcome facts. Redacted therefore starts with a shot of a document, parts of which have been made illegible with a marker.
De Palma describes the gruesome events via supposedly documentary archive material that has been staged. He draws on the video diary of one of the soldiers who is himself not aware of the fact that he is an accomplice, from documentaries, American and Islamist fundamentalist websites, reports and images from security cameras. The authenticity suggested in this way provides him with a dramatic solution. The film shows that in today’s wars, modern communication techniques make more uncensored video material available than is accounted for in reality. The real, documentary footage at the end of the film speaks for itself.

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