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Company of the First Reconnaissance Battalion, and runs up to the liberation of Baghdad. The black humour that runs through the seven hours of the piece is well-observed, as is the underlying incompetence of the military command. Its resolutely non-star cast acts to enhance the realism of the piece; and although Generation Kill follows some conventional lines, the overall feeling is one of minimal plot development coupled with angry criticisms of a war which has been under-prepared in terms of resources. On many occasions weaponry malfunctions, bad decisions leave men in trouble; many of the actions of the commanding officers are more concerned with getting up the ladder than trying to do the best job they can. Generation Kill manages to give the
impression of a war which is out of control, where the boundaries are blurred and the directives handed down are constantly questioned. There is clear sympathy with the men on the front-line – but they are not portrayed as clean-cut heroes. On the contrary they are foul- mouthed, in many respects amoral characters whose motivations are driven more by loyalty to the Battalion than any ideological basis. The use of the camcorder as an official record of events is also cleverly employed, especially the final few minutes of the series when an edited synopsis of shots set to Johnny Cash’s ‘When The Man Comes Around’ gives a chilling coda to the overall feel of the series. It is an involving and at times slow watch – but its power lies in the subtleties
of interaction between those in command and those taking the orders rather than any major set- piece battle scenes. While looking at these films can be an
extremely worthwhile exercise in terms of assessing aspects of representation, applying audience theory and looking at wider political contexts, other media texts can also offer a variety of different viewpoints to the unholy mess that has occurred in those blighted countries. The British, of course, were a major part of the invasion of Iraq and continue to deploy a large force in Afghanistan. Their story is as much part of the overall picture as the American army and it has been documented on television incredibly effectively in Occupation (BBC1, 2009) and The Mark of Cain (Channel 4, 2007).
Brits in Basra – bringing the
war back home There was widespread British opposition to the
war in Iraq, culminating in a huge march through London in February 2003 when reportedly a million people protested against invasion. The then Prime Minister Tony Blair had allied himself with George W. Bush on the war on terror. A month later a coalition force, largely consisting of American and British troops, started their offensive on the Iraqi borders, and their cities began to be heavily bombarded. The dominant voice about the conflict has so far emerged from America, but very many British servicemen have been killed, injured and damaged by their experiences. Occupation, broadcast at peak time in June 2009, is, to date, the most high-profile portrayal of the British experience of the war. Written by Peter Bowker (Desperate Romantics) and deftly directed by Nick Murphy, the narrative is incredibly plot-laden but all the better for that, focusing on the experiences of three soldiers, Sergeant Mike Swift (James Nesbitt), Corporal Danny Peterson (Stephen Graham) and Lance Corporal Lee Hibbs (Warren Brown) over a five year period. The opening sequence sees the men in Basra in 2003 hunting down a sniper in an incendiary start which sets the tone for the entire series. Swift becomes a hero by saving the life of a young girl and meets an Iraqi doctor Aliya Nabil (Lubna Azabal) who becomes the love- interest in the story. What Bowker and Murphy brilliantly manage to convey over the three-hour narrative are the repercussions of events in Iraq and the effect on the men and their families. On returning to the north of England, all three central characters fail to settle. Haunted and in thrall to what they had seen in Basra, their lives are permanently fractured. Swift starts a chaste affair with Aliya and is unable to connect with his family. Hibbs picks up some casual work as a bouncer but is in conflict with his sister who believes that the war was wrong. Danny is perhaps the most complicated character. He comes across as a cocksure Scouser laughing
22 MediaMagazine | December 2009 | english and media centre
and joking – but it soon emerges that his life in the UK is an empty shell of paid-for sex, a mother who no longer recognises him, drug use and a suicide attempt. He is ‘saved’ by an American colleague who encourages him to set up a security business linked to the reconstruction of Iraq. Danny drafts in Hibbs and sets out to re-invent himself in the new post-Saddam world. Occupation may in parts feel melodramatic,
but it manages to cover a number of key issues in a short space of time; because of the quality of the writing it gives a pretty comprehensive view of the changes in Iraq over the time period. The invasion and reconstruction has led to militant groups springing up, widespread corruption and no determinable rise in the quality of life for normal Iraqi citizens. What is interesting is how the ‘liberation’ of the country has conversely led to the gradual erosion of women’s rights. This is encapsulated in Aliya’s character who at the start of the Episode One is a confident, wise- cracking medic but by Episode Three has become a frightened woman, wrapped in a head-scarf unable to talk to Swift without a chaperone, only able to do her job out of sight. There is also a clear sense of the
transformation of the characters. Mike loses everything – his marriage, his son (also a soldier) and Aliya – without really knowing why. Danny’s greed drives him to exploit the uncertainty surrounding the new Iraq, diverting UN funds to his security firm – but ultimately he knows that he is morally compromised; he is as much a part of the problem as the fundamentalists and former Baathists tearing the country apart. Perhaps Hibbs’ character is the most optimistic of the group; he makes friends with an Iraqi translator Yunis, who is subsequently killed by insurgents. He returns to Basra to compensate Yunis’ family with his earnings, but is snatched by militia-men and narrowly escapes having his throat cut. Although he is clearly damaged by his experiences he ends up as a counsellor for veterans. The dénouement is extremely bleak offering little in the way of solutions. This is consistent with the overall feeling of the piece that the war and its aftermath in Iraq have many losers and few victors. Tony Marchant’s controversial, BAFTA
award-winning The Mark of Cain was first broadcast in April 2007 and in a similar way examined the soldier’s point of view. Rather than a wide-ranging approach to take in the whole of the conflict, The Mark of Cain instead concentrated on two teenage squaddies, Mark (Gerard Kearns) and Shane (Matthew McNulty) and their role in the torture of two detainees in their custody. The film examined the culture of bullying, peer-pressure and class inequality in the British Army, based around this horrific event. In many respects Marchant wrote the film as a harsh rites-of-passage for the boys, exploring the gap between moral courage – that is, loyalty to the group – and the incessant gnawing away of their own consciences. It is a powerful text, based on real-life accounts of beating hooded Iraqi prisoners and the taking of ‘trophy photographs’. It is also an excellent film for looking at representations of teenagers. Both Mark and Shane are mere boys, expected to do a
Generation Kill, HBO; Battle for Haditha, Contender Home Entertainment; Occupation, BBC DVD; Mark of Cain, Revolver Entertainment; Standard Operating Procedure, Sony; T Stray Dogs, Artificial Eye; The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow (2008) Credit: First Light Productions/Kingsgatefilms / The Kobal Collection;
Image.net for images from Generation Kill, Redacted and W
axi T
o The Dark Side, Velocity; T
urtles Can Fly, ICA;
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