Battle for Haditha (film)
| Battle for Haditha | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Nick Broomfield |
| Produced by | Nick Broomfield |
| Written by | Nick Broomfield Marc Hoeferlin Anna Telford |
| Starring | Elliot Ruiz Yasmine Hanani Matthew Knoll |
| Music by | Nick Laird-Clowes |
| Cinematography | Mark Wolf |
| Editing by | Stuart Gazzard Ash Jenkins |
| Distributed by | HanWay Films |
| Release date(s) | Spain: 14 December 2007 United Kingdom: 4 February 2008 |
| Running time | 93 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English Arabic |
Battle for Haditha is a 2007 drama film directed by British director Nick Broomfield loosely based on the Haditha killings. Dramatising real events using a documentary style, Battle for Haditha is Broomfield's follow up to Ghosts. The film was aired on Channel 4 in the UK on 17 March 2008.
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[edit] Plot
The film is inspired by an incident that occurred three months after the Battle of Haditha in the Iraq War. On 19 November 2005, 24 Iraqi men, women and children were killed in Haditha, a city in the western Iraq province of Al Anbar. At least 15 of those killed were noncombatant civilians. All are alleged to have been killed by a group of United States Marines. Since the release of the film, however, charges have been dropped (for lack of evidence) against all the Marines involved, even Sgt Wuterich, who was the Marine in charge on the ground on that day.[1] The names of the involved parties have been changed in the film.[2]
[edit] Production
Shot on location in Jerash, Jordan, the film uses former U.S. Military personnel and Iraqi refugees to play many of the roles.[3] However, the film was shot in an unconventional way - it was shot sequentially enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations, and a very small documentary style film crew. This greatly added to the feeling of reality. Actors, while working from a detailed script, and the final form of the film reflects that structure, were also able to improvise and add to the dialogue, making it their own.
[edit] Cast
The film features Elliot Ruiz as Cpl. Ramirez, a Marine who loses his composure after watching a friend die, Jase Willette as Pfc. Cuthbert, the young Marine whose death sets off the chain of events, Yasmine Hanani as Hiba, a young Iraqi woman stuck in the middle of the chaos, Eric Mehalacopoulos as the no-nonsense Sgt. Ross, Falah Flayla as a former Iraqi Army officer turned insurgent, and Thomas Hennessy as a Navy corpsman assigned to Kilo company.
[edit] Film festivals
Battle for Haditha was presented at the Toronto Film Festival on 11 September 2007.[4] Director Nick Broomfield won the Silver Shell award for Best Director at the San Sebastian Film Festival on 29 September 2007.[5] It was also presented at the London Film Festival on 30 October 2007.[6]
[edit] Critical reception
As of May 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 63% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 26 reviews.[7] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 10 reviews.[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ MILITARY: Haditha Marine acquitted
- ^ "Time Out London interview with Nick Bloomfield". http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/2905/. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ Koehler, Robert (17 September 2007). "Variety review of Battle for Haditha". http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934755.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ "Toronto International Film Festival schedule". http://www.tiff07.ca/filmsandschedules/filmdetails.aspx?id=707121105251293. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ "San Sebastian Film Festival official awards". http://www.sansebastianfestival.com/2007/in3/premios01.php. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- ^ "London Film Festival schedule" (PDF). http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/lff/files/pdf/lff_2007_web_calendar.pdf. Retrieved 18 November 2007.[dead link]
- ^ "Battle for Haditha Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/battle_for_haditha/. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
- ^ "Battle for Haditha (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/battleforhaditha. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Battle for Haditha at the Internet Movie Database
- Battle for Haditha at Rotten Tomatoes
- Battle for Haditha at Metacritic
- Battle for Haditha at AllRovi
- Defend Our Marines interview with Elliot Ruiz
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