Reviewing the Rob Marshall film Memoirs of a Geisha, Roger Ebert wrote, "I suspect that the more you know about Japan and movies, the less you will enjoy Memoirs of a Geisha."
This is such a useful critical rule of thumb that there ought to be a shorthand way of referring to movies fitting that description. I don't suppose we can call them Geisha movies. No, probably not.
Still, let the reader understand when I suggest that Green Zone is a Geisha movie, in the sense that the more you know about Iraq, the less you will enjoy it. I don't know a lot about Iraq, and even I know too much for this movie.
Director Paul Greengrass's biggest credits include the slick, well-made escapist thrills of two Bourne sequels and the restrained docudrama realism of United 93. Green Zone is an awkward fusion of the two. The film is situated squarely not only in the war in Iraq, but in the circumstances around the case for war. It's framed as a conspiracy-minded action thriller in which real things happen, but not in the ways or for the reasons that they really happened.
Matt Damon is back in heroic form after playing against type in Steven Soderburgh's The Informant!, returning to the role of an unstoppable warrior off reservation on a relentless quest for the truth that corrupt higher-ups don't want him to find. Greengrass's trademark shaky-cam urgency is accentuated by cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, who brought similar documentary-like rawness to The Hurt Locker.
But chief warrant officer Roy Miller (Damon) isn't on the trail of some fictional black-ops CIA organization. He's part of the 2003 U.S. effort to search for fictional weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Jason Bourne's shadowy nemesis was an agency called Treadstone; Roy Miller's is a man named Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), a Pentagon intelligence agent who seems to be the only one in the loop on where the intel is coming from. "It's actionable," Poundstone says in response to Miller's queries about the intel, meaning that Miller's team will act on it.
It's a foregone conclusion that the search for WMDs is an exercise in futility, but Miller's quest puts him on the trail of a more tangible target: the "Jack of Clubs" in the U.S. playing card schema, General al Rawi (Igal Naor), who, if you look up the actual playing card schema, is not the actual Jack of Clubs, although he seems to be a similarly built guy with a similar mustache.
I haven't read Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, Rajiv Chandrasekaran's award-winning nonfiction account of U.S. mismanagement of the attempted reconstruction of Iraq, supposedly the inspiration for the film. From Charles Ferguson's documentary No End in Sight I vaguely recognized some of the mistakes made by civilian authorities in Green Zone: insular thinking; excluding other points of view (e.g., Brendan Gleeson's frustrated CIA analyst); shutting out former Ba'ath party leaders; shutting down all existing Iraqi military forces. A subplot involving Amy Ryan as a Wall Street Journal reporter named Lawrie Dayne whose bungled reporting on WMDs helped to make the case for war sounded familiar.
After seeing the film, I refreshed myself on some of the details. The real players--L. Paul
Bremer, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority who actually made the controversial decisions depicted in the film; New York Times journalist Judith Miller, who actually wrote the problematic WMD stories; Ahmed Chalabi, the U.S.-backed Iraqi politician who boasted about falsifying Western intelligence--are replaced by fictitious stand-ins who diverge from their real-world counterparts in significant ways.
As for Miller, there's simply no real-world basis for his role in the Iraqi conflict. By the end he's become a whistle-blower like Marine captain Brian Steidle in The Devil Came on Horseback, a documentary about Darfur. It's tidy, comforting revisionism, like sending Rambo back into Vietnam so we can win this time. Instead of a morass in which the search for WMDs simply peters out, we get the closure of a smoking gun, a scapegoat whom Miller can buttonhole with righteous fury like Harrison Ford lacing into the president at the end of Clear and Present Danger.
Even on an Oliver Stone paranoia-thriller level, Green Zone is undermined by its faint-hearted fictionalizing. At least an Oliver Stone movie names names and proposes scenarios that may or may not withstand scrutiny, but offer something to scrutinize. JFK's fevered speculations may be crashingly wrong, but Green Zone offers a scenario that is "not even wrong," in the useful phrase of theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli. Whether Clay Shaw was involved in a plot to assassinate JFK is a question about the real world; whether Clark Poundstone knowingly falsified WMD intel isn't, because there is no Clark Poundstone.
Consider Lawrie Dayne, whom the original screenplay placed at The New York Times, but the finished film has writing for the Wall Street Journal. According to L. A. Times blogger John Horn, "the legal departments at Universal Pictures and producing partner Working Title Films changed her affiliation to the Wall Street Journal so that audiences wouldn't confuse the character with an actual journalist."
Does Judith Miller exist in the world of Green Zone? If so, are she and Lawrie Dayne competitors? Were they each trying to out-scoop the other on WMDs? It's like the film is set in a parallel universe, like how comic-book fans have been expected to accept that the fictional cities of Metropolis and Gotham are located somewhere on the East Coast in close proximity to New York City. The story is too closely bound to real events not to jostle uncomfortably with the facts.
Military-minded critics of The Hurt Locker who complained about implausibilities like Jeremy Renner's solo journey on foot through unfamiliar Baghdad streets in the rain at night, returning to his base without ID and not in uniform, will have a field day with Green Zone. Miller does all this and so much more; he may not be quite up to Bourne-level super-heroics, but he'd put Renner's "wild man" in The Hurt Locker in a hurry.
A bit more interesting than all the WMD nonsense is the role of an Iraqi nicknamed "Freddy" (Khalid Abdalla, who played one of the terrorists in United 93) who comes to Miller claiming to have information about secret meetings of former Ba'ath party leaders and acts as his translator for much of the film. Freddy isn't a complicated character, but he's a character American audiences aren't used to seeing, and the film maintains some suspense about his motives. In the end, he makes a better case than anyone else in the story against Western interests trying to decide the fate of Iraq.
In my review of United 93, I expressed gratitude that the first film to dramatize that dreadful day got so much right, since in our media age a film can help make an event "real" to viewers, but "the wrong movie can make it obscenely unreal." Green Zone is something of a case in point. Somewhere between the Green Zone of defensible fiction and the red zone of harsh reality is a no-go zone of dishonesty. The boundaries may be hard to determine, but at the very least Green Zone is close enough to no-go territory to deserve being received more or less the way Freddy was when Miller first found him, on the ground in the crosshairs of weapons and pointed questions.
SOURCE: Christianity Today - Steven D. Greydanus
Comments |  RSS |
|
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.
very good article keep up the good work. If you have time, email me and we can work something out good!
a very great post by the author hope to read more very soon.
You you could change the post name title Green Zone Movie Review - BCNN1 to more suited for your webpage you write. I loved the post withal.
You certainly have some agreeable opinions and views. Your blog provides a fresh look at the subject.
I’d come to come to terms with you on this. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment!
That can help resolve many problems before they escalate further.
Like your blog, I have been reading quite a bit about this recently and it is beneficial to get lots of unique bits of information and points of view. Look forward to reading more.
Generally there are many types of workouts but the actual concern is why Pilates become extremely preferred?
Great! Thanks for post
Credit score ratings play a vital role inside our life as if you have decent review then you can certainly be considered for personal loans at excellent interest charges along with lesser monthly expenditures.
List of Christian drug rehab and faith based treatment centers, including ... Adolescents are especially sensitive and when their lives are surrounded by addiction, making the right choice for their drug rehab could effect the outcome ...Anew Rehab Services drug rehabilitation, alcohol treatment centers, specializes in treating those with dual addictions! Drug rehab Luxury Drug and Alcohol Rehab program providing Addiction Treatment, Interventionist referrals in the New Jersey (NJ), Pennsylvania (PA), New York (NY), ... 5 May 2010 ... Marijuana information, Marijuana facts and Marijuana effects.Drug addiction treatment center referrals to drug rehabilitation treatment centers, drug rehab centers, alcohol rehab and interventions.
Nice post :) - I threw up a shortened version of this (more like a summary) on my blog, but definitely gave you credit with a link. Do you have any advertising spots on here? Hit me up on the email I left if you do.
There are some interesting points therein article but I don't know if I see all of them eye to heart. There is some validness but I will hold judgment until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we want more! Added to FeedBurner too.
An interesting blog post right there mate . Cheers for the post !
Great! Thanks for post
Yet again you come out with information. get that kind of information came across your post I have a presentation, and this kind of.
Excellent article and I have to say I have to concur with you!
Once more fantastic. come across that kind of information explained so well friend, and wanted.
Vehicle contracts are a good buy. When your vehicle falls apart the policy covers the invoice. We have a warranty on our BMW.
TY for putting this up, it was unbelieveably informative and told a lot
Thanks so much for another wonderful. I be able to get material am glad I found customer, and material.
good quality post thanks
The both. could do with much never usually It is nice to see people
Hey your site looks really weird in Firefox on computer with Mac .
This article view of the situation. Thanks, It is nice to see opinions that are informative helpful in nature.
Hey I love your style I will subscribe for your feed please keep posting! Ten years ago, every camera you could get at this price, came with an optical viewfinder and ran on dimestore batteries.
Hi man do you'r had news sites ? I care article advance so me ... ..
Sweet post, many thanks. I've been intending on doing a post along these lines for awhile, do you mind if I quote you? I will link back to you of course.
Just discovered this site through Yahoo, what a way to brighten up my year!
Trust me, is more than just this point of comparison.
Hello friends do you have news archives ? I approve article developing for my friend ... ..
This installment is going to give you a few conclusions to chew on.
I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time... however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.Great stuff as usual Some of us know how to handle those feelings without causing any additional conflict or problems in certain situations.
I just sent this post to a bunch of my friends as I agree with most of what you’re saying here and the way you’ve presented it is awesome.
Ohh very much thanks admin
Which golf clubs will be the best for beginner ?
Great! Thanks for post
thanks good post
delivers view of the matter. Thanks, It is nice to see thoughts that tell more of the story, they are more beneficial in nature.
Your place is valueble for me. Thanks!…
thanks good post
Your RSS feed doesn't work in my browser (google chrome) how can I fix it?
Alright useful brief article for Green Zone Movie Review - BCNN1 ketopcshlwropb.
Good blog, thanks. I really love it!
Hi, I just noticed your RSS feed is not working properly, Thought I ought to let you know.
This is great! How did you learn this stuff?
I just signed up to RSS on this blog. Will you post more about the topic?
very good \o/
Phenomenal post and some very useful information.
I saw something about that subject on TV last night. Good article.
Please, keep up the excellent work and continue to post topics like this. I am old fan of your site.
Good article, thank you. I signed to your rss feed!
Ohh very much thanks admin
I wanted to say thank you to you for this excellent read!! I have you book marked to check out new stuff you post.
Well written post.
published view of the matter. published it, i really like finding opinions that tell more of the story, they are more helpful in nature.
This is great! How did you learn this stuff?
Turn the despair of being alone into the wonder of being alone with God.
You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration. -James Allen
In 1987, cats overtook dogs as the number one pet in America (about 50 million cats resided in 24 million homes in 1986).
This blog has been loading slowly for me the last few days. I thought maybe it was my computer, but my sister visits your site as well and she told me the same thing is happening to her. Any ideas?
Albert Einstein~ Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.
net. Such a cool info web site! I will certainly be back in the very near future.
Great post, thank you. I signed to your blog RSS.
Thanks for this article.
Hello, this is some terrific info: which for me I think I will use your info and advice.. Your info website is of excellent quality. I wish I could produce content like this for my info website. I would love to know where do you find your ideas.?
Greet work there. signed
Ohh very much thanks admin
Never knew this, thanks for letting me know.
very good \o/
Please, keep up the excellent work and continue to post topics like this. I am old fan of your site.
good quality post thanks
Good article, thank you. I signed up to your rss feed!
Do you know that your site looks really weird in Safari on my laptop with Ubuntu .
Took me time to study all of the comments, but I really enjoyed the report. It proved to become quite helpful to me and i am confident to all of the commenters the following! It is usually wonderful whenever you can not just be informed, but also entertained! Cheers!
Please, keep up the greet work and continue to post topics like this. I am really fan of your blog!
Nice article, thanks. I really love it!
I saw something about that subject on TV last night. Nice post.
As a Newbie, I am permanently searching online for articles that can benefit me. Thank you
The Goddess Is Alive And Magick Is Afoot
Which golf clubs will be the best for beginner ?
Thank You For This Blog, was added to my bookmarks.
I find myself coming to your blog more and more often to the point where my visits are almost daily now!
If you don't know exactly what you want or need, you should chew over the following beliefs.
You made a few fine points there. I did a search on the matter and found the majority of people will agree with your blog.
Which golf clubs will be the best for beginner ?
Well I definitely enjoyed reading it. This subject provided by you is very helpful for accurate planning.
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most individuals will approve with your blog.
Thanks For This Blog, was added to my bookmarks.
I just book marked your blog on Digg and StumbleUpon.I enjoy reading your commentaries.
I feel that I do not agree with all that you say but I have to come to terms with and acknowledge that you own have put together a fantabulous informational web site!
thanks good post
You are a very smart person!
You certainly have some agreeable opinions and views. Your blog provides a fresh look at the subject.
I find myself coming to your blog more and more often to the point where my visits are almost daily now!
Nice post, thanks! I really like it.
Your RSS feed doesn't work in my browser (google chrome) how can I fix it?
Great site, thank you. I really love it.
Not much, perhaps.
Good point.
Greet work there. I really like
Great! Thanks for post
Nice post, please visit my site Traffic Reloaded
Hey, I was surfing around your blog and noticed that many your images aren't loading. Thought I ought to let you know
thanks good post
Nice post, good work. I have recently started my own blog so its handy to pickup tips from what you have going here. Many Thanks.
I can attest to the value of.
Useful article, this is. It is definitely good to come across a article that is valuable.
I'm still learning from you, while I'm making my way to the top as well. I certainly liked reading all that is posted on your blog.Keep the posts coming. I loved it!
Good post, thank you. Could you explain the second paragraph in more detail? Visit Traffic Reloaded Review
Cool website. Thank you!
Excellent post.
thank for post
Nice article, thank you! Can you explain the first paragraph more? Visit Traffic Reloaded
I’ve been visiting your blog for a while now and I always find a gem in your new posts. Thanks for sharing.
Nice blog, thanks! I really like it.
This is excellent! How did you learn this stuff? Conversion Prophet Review
great thanks \o/
I found your weblog on google and check several of the early posts. Preserve up the excellent operate. I just additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading through additional from you later on!…
You have given me great points for my new article and i am going to use that.
Do you know that your site looks really weird in Firefox on my office computer Linux .
Just keep doing good content. Conversion Prophet Review
Good article, thank you! Can you explain the first paragraph more?
Just keep posting good posts.
When I start your Feed it appears to be to be a lot of junk, is the issue on my part?
I discovered your blog site on google and check a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the very good operate. I just additional up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Seeking forward to reading more from you later on!…
This is excellent! Where do you find this stuff?Affiliate Scalper
Hello.This post was really motivating, particularly because I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Saturday.
protracted journal you've receive
Excellent post this will really help me.
Greet!
Maybe what I have is a disgust for in respect to.
This is been a real comfort to me.
There is noticeably a lot to realize about this. I consider you made some nice points in features also.
Good article, thanks. I just signed up to RSS on this blog.
Your RSS feed doesn't work in my browser (google chrome) how can I fix it?
That's not what this story is about.
Have you thought about adding some videos to the article? I think it will really enhance viewers' understanding.
I've never read anything respecting from anyone.