pulchrissima Review of Gunner Palace

Gunner Palace (2004)

This is what really happens. I was there, I lived it too.

[10/10 · 5 March 2005]

One year ago I was on a plane taking me to Baghdad. Not as a soldier, but as a civilian who was going to work in the presidential palace in the midst of the green zone. This documentary took me back there, I didn't know those boys, but those were the same personalities and issues that I dealt with. This is truly a must-see film. I was only there a short time, but I urge everyone to see this, no matter how you feel about the war that we are fighting. This shows the real stuff, not what you see on the news, this was impartial, this was about the soldiers. This film is also helping me to talk about what I did see and how my experiences were different. A lot of time, for me, was spent in conversations about what we were going to do when we got back to the states. It was surreal being there. You have to stop thinking about how scary it is. The mortars and RPG's going off at night start to sound like thunder and so you convince yourself that you aren't in danger, but that's just to stay sane. I hated having to answer the question "weren't you scared?" Of course I was, but you can't let it consume you and this film showed that side of the soldiers. They have to let loose sometime. Watch the humvees, and see how the frame changes from when the director was there the first time and when he went back months later...its then that you realize how different the situation was. I left right before it got out of control with kidnappings and be-headings, and I felt guilty. I felt guilty because I was back here safe and sound and my friends were still there. Don't let this be a film that you see once and forget about, this is real life and there are still soldiers living this film and they don't know the ending yet, none of us do.