September 15, 2004
Down From the Mountain
A writer braves treacherous weather, high altitudes, and long lines to reach that mother lode of cinema, Telluride.
by Tim Appelo, Seattle Weekly
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A fierier debate may be ignited by Seattle-area filmmaker Michael Tucker's documentary Gunner Palace, an amazingly intimate look at the life of the U.S. soldiers camped out in Uday Hussein's bombed-out palace: fishing in his still-stocked trout pond, sunning by his pool, going on patrol, getting murdered by Iraqis, doing Cops-style break-ins to hunt for insurgents. "This unit was very exceptional," said Tucker, "because they let [us] accompany them on any missions, [even] an interrogation. I don't think there's anybody who has anything close to that." His film brings you truths you won't be seeing on Fox News, nor probably even on real network news. The grunts pour out their hearts in rap, defy death, and roll on the desert street laughing at the farcically life-endangering truck armor that numbskull Rumsfeld provided them with. Meanwhile, Tucker reports, "You see civilian contractors driving around in $250,000 Mercedes G wagons." Avowedly apolitical, Tucker views his film as "a Trojan horse" to get the average, support-our-troops American to think realistically about the war.
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