Gunner Palace

GUNNER PALACE | Some war stories will never make the nightly news. This is one of them.

Thanks Scar for the heads up on this one.

Plot outline (according to IMDb Pro)
“American soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the “Gunners,” tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country.”

It looks interesting to say the least. I must see it. There’s even a blog that was written during production. I wonder, however who’s paying for this? Is it a middle of the road look or are their leanings (and pocket linings) from either the hawks or the doves? I guess we’ll see when we see it.

I’m enjoying documentary more an more. Gone are the days of grass growing and hours of paint drying on PBS hosted by Jiminy Crickett and Smokey the Bear. Thank God.

More on this from Blogcritics.

Here’s a bit from DCFilmsociety.org:

Gunner Palace (Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein). “This touching documentary came through the festival’s submission process, so it was another world premiere, I guess. I’ve seen many of the Iraq-related documentaries; this is the best. It has no bias. Tucker latched onto a gunnery battalion as it moved into Uday Hussein’s palace and then spent two months with these young soldiers. They were of course skeptical, but ultimately he became part of their family, and it is obvious they grew to trust him. Tucker joined them on day and night patrols, every one of which seemed to be a harrowing experience. He followed them into the homes of Iraqis who were suspected of harboring people the US military or the Iraqi police were seeking. And he filmed them letting off steam inside the palace. Some of the young men were reserved, others full of fun and jokes. Among the most articulate and affecting were young men who could only express themselves on camera through rap poetry. Some who saw it criticized Tucker for showing the soldiers at occasionally disreputable play, but I thought he did a wonderful job of conveying a sense of what it must be like to be there, in harm’s way every day. The film may not change anyone’s view about US involvement in Iraq, but it’s fascinating to listen to those on the front lines who explain why they’re proud to be there, just as it’s fascinating to hear another young man make the point–in rhyme–that it “may be entertainment for you, but this is my life!” Sure to be controversial, but very good.”

From Variety.com: Gunner Palace (Docu — Germany – U.S.)

“A Palm Pictures release of a Nomados Films production. (International sales: Cinetic MediaCinetic Media, New York.) Produced, directed, edited by Michael Tucker, Petra Epperlein.

By TODD MCCARTHY
A you-are-there portrait of the war in Iraq as experienced by American soldiers in central Baghdad, “Gunner Palace” vividly delivers important images of the conflict, hitherto unavailable to the public. Made without any overt political agenda, direct cinema-style docudocu clearly demonstrates that, for the soldiers themselves, the issue isn’t politics or democratization but simply day-to-day survival. Rough-and-ready pic, which was acquired by Palm PicturesPalm Pictures after its Telluride world premiere, has some commercial prospects in limited theatricaltheatrical release before finding broader exposure on homevid, DVD and cable.

Co-director Michael Tucker, who’s from a military family, did two one-month stints with the roughly 400 members of the Army’s 2/3 Field Artillery, first in September 2003 and again in February 2004. In between, the troop made the cover of Time magazine as “Person of the Year.” Home for these volunteer soldiers during their 410-day tours of duty is the enormous, bombed out Azimiya Palace, one of the gaudy creations of Saddam Hussein that served as a pleasure palace for his son, Uday.

While the men (only one female soldier is glimpsed) are sometimes seen kicking back — the palace has a pool and putting green — pic’s focus is trained on their daily rounds. Tucker regularly jumps, “Cops”-style, right into the Humvees along with the soldiers, providing a valuable look at Iraq the way they see it. There are the bustling streets of downtown Baghdad; the vigilant lookout for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices); a contentious local council meeting; surprise raids on homes in search of suspects or weapons caches; rocks thrown by bystanders at vehicles; an Iraqi civil defense drill, and dealings with locals ranging from a kid zonked out on glue to possible spies and insurgents.

Through it all, the soldiers comment on what’s going on, sometimes via engaging, eloquently wrought raps. Mostly very young men, they have the spirit and confidence of youth honed to a physical peak and an attitudinal sharpness undiluted by drink or drugs, unlike some of their counterparts of the Vietnam era. There’s an expected degree of macho cockiness, but the dominant personal trait is a prudence born of the knowledge that death may await in any bag lying on the street or in any truck that may pull up next to you.

When Tucker returns for his second visit to Gunner Palace, which is located in what at least then was one of the most dangerous districts of Baghdad, he learns that while he was gone, several officers have been killed by roadside bombs. During the period the film was made, eight men attached to 2/3 FA were killed.

As it jumps around from soldier to soldier to reveal the diversity of American military experiences in Iraq, the film allows acquaintanceship but not closeness to its subjects; it’s not a work in which one becomes deeply connected to the people in it. At the same time, it makes quite clear how one can, without contradiction, support the troops individually and collectively, and still object to the enterprise that put them in this very foreign and increasingly perilous environment.

There is also a decided pop culture aspect to the way the viewer experiences the film, as well as to the soldiers’ consciousness of it. “For y’all this is just a show, but we live in this movie,” one young man raps, and the film indisputably resembles a reality show in some respects, one marked by rapid lurches between action and boredom rather than by manufactured melodrama.

Put together by Tucker and his co-director/editor wife Petra Epperlein without a hint of artifice, docu offers up its sounds and images bluntly, and they are very much sounds and images worth having as part of the record.

Camera (color, video), Tucker; sound, Chris Muller. Reviewed at Telluride Film Festival, Sept. 5, 2004. (Also in Toronto Film Festival — Reel to Reel.) Running time: 85 MIN.”