Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Elliot Ruiz, Yasmine Hanani, Andrew McLaren,
Eric Mehalacopoulos, Matthew Knoll, Oliver Bytrus,
Thomas Hennessy, Danny Martinez
Written by Marc Hoeferlin & Nick Broomfield
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £19.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 93 minutes
Directed by Nick Broomfield
On November 19 2005, in Haditha, a city in western Iraq, 24 civilians — innocent men, women and children — were slaughtered by a group of US Marines after Iraqi insurgents bombed their convoy. In 2006, eight of those Marines were charged in connection with the incident. After more than two years of investigation, none has been charged with murder.
Filmmaker Nick Broomfield is well known for his superb documentaries (Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer, Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam, Kurt & Courtney, His Big White Self). But here he's gone the dramatic route, ala Paul Greengrass's excellent United 93. Or maybe it should be called a docudrama, seeing as it's part recreation, part speculation of what really happened. Broomfield uses real ex-Marines (Ruiz, McLaren and Mehalacopoulos) and Iraqi citizens in some of the roles, and shot the film in Jordan. The situation is seen from all three sides — the young American soldiers who are in over their heads, in a conflict they should never have got involved in; to the "insurgents" who merely see themselves as freedom fighters trying to repel the invading Americans; and the Iraqi civilians who find themselves caught in the middle.
Broomfield does not point the finger; he lets the events speak for themselves. As a viewer, though, it's hard not to fall on the side of the Iraqis. They suffered for years at the hand of a cruel dictator. Now they suffer even more at the hands of their "liberators". Broomfield's natuaralistic style makes the grippingly authentic film often feel like a documentary, especially during the scenes of the massacre itself — you sometimes think you are watching news footage rather than a fictional recreation. This is a powerful, moving drama, and I've never seen a better anti-war message on screen.
EXTRAS **** Two commentaries — one with Broomfield, the other with actor and former Marine Elliot Ruiz; a "making of" featurette; interviews with cast members Ruiz and Eric Mehalacopoulos; casting tapes of Ruiz and Andrew McLaren (also a former Marine); a Q&A with Broomfield that aired on al-Jazeera television; and the theatrical trailer.