Review of Boys of Abu Ghraib (2014) by Panta O — 04 Aug 2014

This watered down version of the war crimes at the torture place of Abu Ghraib is just a way to describe the opinion that "Haji's" deserve it! Look at the name of the producers (Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz) and you will understand that this American war movie inspired by the events that took place at the Abu Ghraib prison, which made worldwide news in 2004, is not made to entertain us or to inform us - it is made to change our way of perceiving these events as right at the given moment! Written and directed by Luke Moran, who co-stars alongside Sean Astin, Omid Abtahi, Sara Paxton, and John Heard, it is a perfect film for brainwashed idiots, but not for anyone who actually looks for something more that 'pride of the nation'. No emotion, no chemistry, no thrill or excitement - it is a movie which simply deserves to be forgotten! As quickly as possible... and the events need to be remembered, the way they actually happened!

The film starts in 2003, the day before 22-year-old Jack Farmer (Luke Moran) ships out for Iraq, having joined the Army Reserves in hopes of being part of something bigger than himself! With dozens of other young men, some finding themselves there because they are patriotic, others because they wanted an adventure and sheer youthful restlessness, he arrives at Abu Ghraib, 20 miles from Baghdad and formerly used by Saddam Hussein to imprison, torture and murder dissidents... I really do not want to share the story which follows because it is as bland as it comes, made to soften the image of the events which actually happened between those walls of suffering!

When Australian television network SBS program "Dateline" aired previously unpublished video showing the abuse of Iraqis in U.S. military custody at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003, we could see images of naked prisoners, some of them with blood lying on the floor. The pictures show almost the same abuses as the photos that caused Abu Ghraib scandal in 2004 - Iraqis subjected to sexual humiliation and shackled in positions tantamount to torture. Of course, Pentagon spokesperson Bryan Whitman said the Defence Department believed the release of additional images of prisoner abuse was harmful and "could only further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world." It seems that this film is made to do completely opposite... calm down people?!

The film won the Audience Award at the Gasparilla Film Festival, the only film festival it screened at... I am not really sure what was the competition like if this was the winner!