Body of War

Directors: Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue
Cast: Tomas Young, Cathy Smith

Vietnam's vets who spoke out about the war were labeled traitors and were most likely subjected to CIA inquiry. Their stories weren't represented adequately in popular media until it was all deemed too late to help.

The war in Iraq, however, from the first shots into Baghdad to the death tolls tallied online at icasualties.org, has been a war fought very much in and with the "magic" that is the modern media. The sentiment to "Support Our Troops" has never wavered, but the expanded slogan "Support Our Troops. Bring Them Home" rings louder each and every day the conflict continues, and louder still after experiencing Body of War - the story of Tomas Young, directed by Ellen Spiro and the oft-impersonated (but never duplicated) talk show host Phil Donahue.

Iraq in Fragments, Gunner Palace, About Baghdad, Iraq for Sale and Uncovered: The War in Iraq have all brought unique perspectives of the massive mess being meandered in the region, while The Ground Truth, The War Tapes and others bare the soul-testing testimony of brave (often young) men and women old enough to fight but seemingly not old enough to fully figure in their nation's foreign diplomacy deliberations. And while Truth and Tapes provide the points of view of many, Body of War secures its strength by offering one, very personal, tale: a boy like many others, who signed up to his nation's military within 48 hours of the attacks of 9/11, determined to address our Afghan attackers. He was sent to Iraq. He was shot. He was given a medal, a flag and a brief hospital stay. And he was left broken from the chest down.

Beginning with the voice of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who contributed a half-dozen original songs to accompany Young's cinematic story, Spiro and Donahue deliver a time capsule of this entire crisis by exploring the physical and mental challenges being faced by a single soldier, and intercutting the footage with the voting count on the Iraq War resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives, a concept that keeps the documentary's clock ticking toward invasion. That only 23 of 156 representatives voted against the bill seems horrific in hindsight, even if passions for action spoke louder that October of 2002.

Despite the death of parts of Young's body, he seems awakened to the world in which he exists. And while it would have been interesting to have heard more from Young's brother, who also enlisted and went off to war with the full knowledge of its consequences and the crippling effect it had on his brother, the story told should be honored for its honesty. And, although he questions his receipt of a heart-shaped medal for bravery (it can easily be considered to be earned more for what came after the gunfire rather than what came before it), Young's courage in allowing this intimate portrait to reveal the manner in which war ravaged his particular body is palpable. This cinematic territory comes tethered with tough truths, and tears.

Film opens in Los Angeles at Landmark's Nuart Theatre on Friday, April 25
(Phil and Ellen will appear for Q&A following the 7:30 screening on opening night)
For complete schedule and to view the film's trailer, visit www.bodyofwar.com.  

Release Schedule:
Kansas City (3/7 - Tivoli)
Austin (3/14 - Dobie)
Washington, D.C. (4/4 -- E Street Cinema)
New York City (4/9 - IFC Center)
Boston (4/11 - Kendall Square Cinema)
San Francisco (4/18)
Berkeley (4/18 - Shattuck Cinema)
Seattle (4/18 - Varsity)
Los Angeles (4/25 - Nuart),
Philadelphia (5/2 - Ritz at the Bourse)
San Diego (5/9 - Ken Cinema)
St. Louis (5/16)
Minneapolis (5/16)
Chicago (5/16)
More cities may be added. The film will be shown at SXSW Film Festival in Austin (3/13) and at the Philadelphia and Miami film festivals.

A double-CD compilation, "Body of War: Songs that Inspired an Iraq War Veteran," will be released by Sire Records on March 18. Both the film and CD are coming out as the nation and the world focus on the 5th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq on March 19-20.