Redacted

Showing war from three perspectives, this film uses hand-held cameras, in-your-face violence, and the horror, boredom and grittiness of everyday Iraq.

A company of GIs mans a checkpoint bristling with guns, barbed wire, and signs in English and Arabic, intended to control vehicle and human traffic and stave off the flow of arms and explosives. Much of the time they sit and watch, laden with uniform, bullet-proof gear, knee pads, and their ammunition and weapon. Bored, from time to time they nod off or find distractions to occupy their minds.

Around them, Iraqis carry on their lives, going to school, to work, herding goats. When young females need to walk past the checkpoint, they are subjected to being frisked by male soldiers, who in turn, in some cases, can use the procedure as an opportunity to touch a female body.

There are also insurgents, or terrorists, who wait for opportunities to kill American soldiers. An improvised explosive device (IED) is set among rubble. monitored remotely, ready to maim or kill.

Off duty, the soldiers read, film video with small, hand-held recorders, play cards, drink. Boredom and tension are constant. On duty, they sit and wait. Once, an innocuous incident results in a sargeant being blown up by the IED. A misunderstanding at the checkpoint results in a pregnant woamn being killed. Boredom and alcohol result in the hatching of a plan to go back to a house, where the soldiers had arrested a man, and rape a 15-year old.

Rape they do, as well as kill and burn her body. Revenge is exacted by the kidnapping of a GI by an anonymous group of presumably, but not certainly, Iraqis, who film his beheading, and leave his body and head to be found.

Technically, the film uses interesting devices: a documentary is presumably being filmed by a French crew; Iraqi television journalists interview and report.

The film is meant to shock, and does.