Review of Redacted (2007) by Joshua B — 08 Jan 2008

Redacted:

And the introduction of the participatory movie.

On November 16th 2007 a monumental independent film was released to terrible reviews. The nonexistent critical success of this film is not news, it will not make history or topple the powers that be in Hollywood, as matter a fact these reviews do nothing to destroy what is news worthy about this film. Redacted is, as the title suggests, Brian De Palmaâ??s use of multiple video formats to weave together a plot eliminating the need for a fourth wall. This is mind blowing!

The fourth wall is, as everyone knows, that instrument which veils the recording of the action taking place in front of the camera. This allows an audience to sit back and engage completely separate from the characters on screen. Meaning that the actors in a normal movie are not performing with the idea that they are being watched, they are captured on film pretending the camera isnâ??t there at all while they react to the crisis propelling the story.

In Redacted the actorâ??s relating the story to the audience invite the camera in as a character. From webcam to security cam to digital cam these fictional American G.I.s serving their country in Iraq commit a brutal crime with the resulting carnage captured on film.

A couple of other movies come to mind that have attempted to do this, the Blair Witch Project may have been the first, and the soon to be released film Cloverfield the more recent, what Redacted and these other films suggest is that story telling on screen is in fact evolving right before our eyes. We arenâ??t idle any longer in the movie watching process, but co-conspirators just by volunteering to see it in the first place.

For example the following, watching a sniper kill a soldier, seeing Sadaam get hung, an IED exploding or some dumb kid falling off his skateboard and cracking his skull, all have one thing in common: you can decide to watch anytime you want just by finding the video online and clicking play.

What does this mean for film?

Well it could be that we have discovered the future of cinematic adventure and all we needed to do was begin recording just how stupid and destructive we can be as a species, but in addition it could also mean that films in the years to come may just have to start competing with real life to stay entertaining, by making it feel real.

With the availability of digital camera technology and online networking sites to post the resulting images, and a willing audience ready to click, the camera has eliminated the need to pretend and Redacted may have just proved it, regardless of whether it was a critical success or not.