Gunner Palace (2004)

Directors:

Petra Epperlein
Michael Tucker

Release Date:

4 March 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | War

Tagline:

Some war stories will never make the nightly news.

Plot:

American soldiers of the 2/3 Field Artillery, a group known as the "Gunners," tell of their experiences in Baghdad during the Iraq War. Holed up in a bombed out pleasure palace built by Sadaam Hussein, the soldiers endured hostile situations some four months after President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat operations in the country. |

Plot Keywords:

Iraq War | Palace | Iraq | Army | Gulf War

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Bryant Davis	...	Himself
Devon Dixon	...	Himself
Javorn Drummond	...	Himself
Elliot Lovett	...	Himself
Nick Moncrief	...	Himself
Jon Powers	...	Himself
Richmond Shaw	...	Himself
Terry Taylor	...	Himself
Stuart Wilf	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for strong language throughout, violent situations and some drug references.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Canada:14A | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Company:

Nomados

Trivia:

During a raid on a house, several Iraqi men, brothers, are captured. One of them protests, saying (in English) that he is a journalist. Some of the soldiers tell him to shut up, and he is taken away. As it turns out, this man was indeed a journalist, Yunis Khatayer Abbas. He spent time in jail, some at Abu Ghraib, suspected of plotting to assassinate British PM Tony Blair. After nine months of imprisonment, he was released, and the US has not charged him with any crime. By coincidence, Michael Tucker, the director of "Gunner Palace," heard about Mr. Abbas' story, and worked together to make his latest movie, "The Prisoner, or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair."

Quotes:

SPC Billie Grimes: The kids are really funny 'cause at first they'll be like 'Mr., Mr.' and then they'll realize, oh, 'Mrs., Mrs.' and then they want to talk to you even more. Like you get swarms of kids just right in front of you. You try to be friendly to 'em while looking around...

Movie Connections:

Featured in This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)

Good, truthful documentary - a little heavy on the downer

Gunner Palace, a documentary by Michael Tucker that follows the U.S. Army's 2/3 Field Artillery for two months while the cope with occupation duty in Iraq. The title is a conflation of the nickname of the unit, The Gunners, and the fact that they have set up shop in a bombed out palace of Uday Hussein.

I can't find it on the web, but I read a bio that the filmmaker served in the mid to late 80s, roughly the same time I was in the Army. I've latched onto the fact (and I hope it is true) because it explains the tone of the film. When I walked out, I told Jim, who had seen it with me, that this guy wanted to make an anti-war movie, but couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

What we see is as much cinema verities we are likely to get in this politically radioactive conflict. Tucker lets the young troops pretty much be young troops for the camera. They all to some extent (and one in particular a great deal) mug for the camera and utter their doubts, concerns and reveal their conflicts. There don't appear to be many people above the age of thirty, though I find it hard to believe that an entire battalion would be so comprised.

We also see soldier show great restraint in difficult situations. In one scene, a drugged out, dirty and bedraggled street urchin is delivered to a place where he will hopefully find some sort of care. The GIs are careful, almost solicitous of the child, demonstrating a great deal of tenderness when considered in context of the fact that they are in a city where they are compelled to carry heavy weapons and wear body armor.

There is a lot of very scraggly video of nighttime raids. Bear in mind that field artillerymen are trained to shoot high-explosives over the horizon and wreck stuff, not tool around a foreign capital like cops. Again, these young men show tremendous restraint as they round up people suspected of manufacturing roadside bombs and lobbing mortars at their temporary home.

You feel a sense of futility at times as you watch, but a 60 day snapshot of a difficult mission is going to do that. Some of the soldiers make statements that could be found on you garden variety Bush = Hitler website, and it broke my heart. What they are doing is noble and necessary given the condition of the world, though a 20 year old would be hard pressed to put it into proper context. It is a shame for anyone over there doing their best to not feel their due honor.

If you rabidly feel one should speak-no-evil of the war while we are at war, Gunner Palace will irk you or worse. I found it to be sufficiently truthful and sincere to be a must-see. Pro-war and anti-war folk will find inspiration, which may mean it was done just about right.