March 01, 2005
A Soldier's Misfortune
David Friend, Entertainment Online
Sometime in the past year the world got tired of hearing about Iraq. Well, no, not the world – America. I suppose it was because things just got boring over there. At least that's what the television says. CNN and Fox News can only sell their ad space when something new is happening, something visually different. But their tight budgets restrain reporters. If it can't be reported by satellite phone, it can't be reported, it seems. But given the opportunity, would America listen again? I'd like to think so.
Gunner Palace doesn't pose that question. In fact, it doesn't really care. It assumes you're listening because these are the voices that haven't been heard before – and they're also the voices that everyone seems to wish they could hear. They are the American soldiers who are stationed in Iraq, fighting for "Iraqi Freedom" or whatever else the evening news is calling it these days.
Told through the eyes of the soldiers, Gunner Palace takes an approach to its content that is definitely American. It plays out like an episode of Cops, minus the extravagant chases. Documentarian Michael Tucker films the story like a diary, combining his own personal thoughts and emotional struggles as an outsider with those of the soldiers on the inside. Together they provide some poignant human moments.
Tucker bases his film at the former royal residence of Uday Hussein, a place the soldiers refer to as "Gunner Palace". Many of these men live in the ruins, serving their time in the military and following the orders sent down the line from superiors. Sometimes this involves raiding the houses of families they've never met, putting to action tasks they have no idea about. Other times it means mingling with the locals who are sometimes loving and other times quite the opposite.
Gunner Palace is quite unlike most footage from Iraq thus far because it showcases the personalities of the soldiers – something the military tends to shy away from in fears that it could create disapproval of the war. The film is a compilation of intimate stories from the center of Baghdad and entertaining serenades from soldiers like Sergeant Nick Moncrief, a young squad leader with prefers to explain his emotions through freestyle rap.
The soldiers pass time by swimming in Hussein's pool. They stifle the languished conditions by creating the façade of a house party, complete with military women. It's fascinating to see these men struggle for escapism in a world where television and radio just don't seem to do the trick. Everyone has their own method of making it through the day, though when it all comes down to it most of them just seem confused.
As a documentary Gunner Palace isn't crafty. It doesn't utilize any fancy techniques, but relies on the reality of the situation to captivate viewers. Tucker's voice serves as a narrative, yet the film isn't overpowered by his vision of the situation. Instead the film settles for the raw emotions of a confusing, rundown and violent world where uniformed men are searching for answers and coming up with few satisfying results.
