This Is War

There have been many films made about the 'war on terror' and the occupation of Iraq but very few about the invasion in March 2003. I wouldn't go so far as essay that this film is unique, but it is certainly made in a style that I'd never seen before with director Kristian Fraga given at least 60 hours of footage shot on mini DV cameras in order to edit it down to about 90 minutes.

Made and released with the title Severe Clear (a description of the weather over New York City on September 11, 2001) but released in the UK under the title This Is War, this begins in San Diego where First Lt Mike Scotti is packing for a trip to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom having only recently returned from Afghanistan. Along with the various parts of his uniform, gas mask and home comforts, he packs his mini DV camera and a picture of a close friend who was killed on September 11, 2001.

Having sailed into Kuwaiti waters and set up camp in Iraq's southerly neighbour, Scotti and the rest of the United States Marine Corps prepare themselves for a land invasion and, when President Bush's ultimatum runs out and the 'Shock and Awe' aerial assault had finished, it was time for all the tanks, Humvees and other armoured vehicles to cross into Iraq on the long journey to Baghdad. On the way, they will encounter fairly fierce resistance from the much vaunted Republican Guard, be unsure of exactly who they are fighting against because so many Iraqi soldiers are dressed in civilian clothing and a level of death and destruction that can't help but have a massive effect on those who were there in the name of liberation and democracy.

It is one thing imagining what it is like to be in Iraq driving north and trying to identify exactly where an artillery assault should be aimed whilst you're being shot at and constantly fearing that Saddam Hussein will give the go-ahead for a chemical or biological attack but quite another to see it in graphic detail. This is not a film for the fainthearted as it is a documentary of war at its most violent with close-ups of dead bodies and men who have just been shot to pieces by Marines who were unsure whether they were confronting a civilian, a suicide bomber or a member of the Republican Guard on a reconnaissance run.


Although Fraga had to cut out a great deal of footage, what he has done with the bits left over is absolutely extraordinary as he has managed to create a documentary with unidentifiable three act structure in which his upbringing and film education is clear to see with references to the films of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick. You can see how films like Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now and the Indiana Jones movies have influenced his filmmaking style with close-ups of maps, montage sequences of the men in training and being prepared at Parris Island and even on board the boat, the USS Boxer, which takes him on the 40 day journey to the coast of Kuwait in the Arabian Sea.

Once in Iraq, you get to know First Lt Scotti and other members of his platoon during their 21 day journey to Baghdad when they are at the forefront of the first wave of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Once there, they are greeted as conquering heroes with children throwing cigarettes onto the vehicle whilst other Iraqis are busy burning and destroying all images of Saddam Hussein whilst looting and making the most of the most freedom they have had since 1979. It isn't long before this initial wave of euphoria and jubilation turns into something a great deal more sinister and Scotti and the other men are required to shoot at people in Baghdad who just want them out of there.


This is possibly the most intense and complicated war film I've ever seen and it just reinforces François Truffaut's argument that it is impossible to make an anti-war film as there will be ways of turning this quite horrific film into something that can act as a recruitment video. The fact that, at the end, Mike Scotti says that he would be prepared to go back, not for the President, nor for the country, and but for his Corps and the men who know him best is indicative of the statement at the beginning of Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker that 'war is a drug'.

The Disc

Extra Features
In the commentary, Kristian Fraga is joined by film critic Matt Zoller who is a big fan of the film and the two talk throughout the movie about how Fraga shows what to include, how to edit it and what sort of music to include with Matt Zoller prompting him with questions and it turns into a thoroughly revealing and fascinating debate about the film and the war in general.

Mike Scotti interviews (13:09) are an interesting collection of interviews with the man behind the camera who shot a great deal of the footage is that led to Severe Clear (This Is War) in which he speaks candidly about his time in Iraq and the Marines, the title and how he came to make the film.

Kristian Fraga interviews (24:09) are further conversations about the Genesis of the project, making the score and the challenges of making and releasing the film. This is even more to the commentary even though it is pretty much an EPK piece.

Creating the maps (8:49) is, as the name suggests, a detailed look at how the maps were developed and finalised in order to blend into the film in order to show you where the action is taking place at that time.

Script to Screen: Airlift to Kuwait is separated into two categories: Raw Footage and Final Cut to show you how the scene was developed with the addition of voice over and slightly sharpening the picture.

Deleted and Extended Scenes just show you how much material Fraga went through and the sort of stuff he cut out in order to get to the 93 minute finished version.

All in all, this is a very good extras package that shows you a great deal about how the film was made and Mike Scotti's experiences in Iraq and is when he came home.


The Picture
As you'd expect from something shot entirely on mini DV cameras, the picture quality isn't outstanding and it's to Fraga's credit that he didn't tamper with the image quality, leaving it as grainy as it was when it was given to him and with some scenes having a fairly low level of detail in the low light situations. All of this adds to the realism and, though it has been edited into an accessible three act documentary, there isn't a single frame that feels anything other than truly authentic.

Helping you to understand where Scotti is, Fraga has a map which keeps appearing showing you where they are in Iraq, which areas have been cleared and where the resistance is expected to be. There are also captions, written by Scotti, which tell you how long they have been in Iraq, what is happening and where they are.


The Sound
It is quite astonishing at the sound quality that these tiny cameras can capture and, although some of the dialogue is little quiet, muddy or otherwise difficult to pick out, there are subtitles that pop up when the dialogue becomes hard to hear. Other situations in which the Marines encounter people speaking Arabic or some Arabic or Persian writing occur without subtitles so you are in exactly the same boat as the protagonists.

One of the more interesting aspects is how the soldiers get their news from the BBC rather than an American outlet is apparently their equipment was in such a state that the BBC World Service was the only radio station that they could receive so, from my point of view, I heard plenty of familiar voices from Radio 4. It is strange how the BBC ends up as being a form of Greek chorus, telling you about events that aren't fully depicted or illustrated by Scotti's footage.


Final Thoughts
Severe Clear is a phenomenal film that anyone who is interested in the invasion of Iraq rather than the post-invasion occupation which has been depicted in such films as Green Zone and The Hurt Locker. It does show just how the ordinary soldier was influenced by 9/11 and the whole media circus that didn't question the official announcements that Iraq was in some way responsible for the terrorist attacks and an imminent threat to the West. This comes highly recommended for anyone who saw enjoyed The Hurt Locker and wanted to see what the invasion was really like.