Review of Redacted (2007) by Erno K — 19 May 2008

This one is an odd mix of true stories, imaginary narrative and strange camera angles. Once again a film that depicts the horrors of war, and that's alright, because one can't stress enough how much wars suck.

Redacted uses an interesting way to tell the story. All of the footage is supposed to come from sources that exist in the world of the film. Surveillance cameras, personal diaries, news programs, etc... That certainly brings an authentic quality to the movie.

There's almost no story, this is more anti-war propaganda, but I'm all for that so it didn't bother me. Only thing that bothered me, was the non-existent plot. Dudes doing stupid stuff in Iraq. Dudes doing horrible stuff in Iraq. Also, it would have made the thing better for me, if the bad guys had been made to pay for their actions. I get it though, in a war this kind of shit goes unpunished all the time.

The real photographs taken from Iraq, that are seen during the end credits, are the most shocking thing in this movie. As soon as you know they are authentic, they start to fuck you up mentally. Stop the goddamn war mongering already, humans!