JohnDoe
Bryn
BrentonBrian De Palma talks Redacted
October 8th 2007 11:16
Brian De Palma explains the aim of Redacted
Brian de Palma engineers his latest odyssey
John Doe found this charged interview with Director Brian De Palma (Untouchables, Carlitos Way, Carrie) @ villagevoice.com via imdb.com.
Detractors have labelled the grandiose filmmaker “Sexually exploitive” and “a gorehound” over the years. After the release of his 1989 vietnam flick Casualties of War accusations of being “a traitor” were added to the critical response.
De Palmas latest titled Redacted shares more than just genre with that Sean Penn starrer. You see Redacted centres around a group of US marines who rape and murder a young, innocent civilian during wartime. The film aspires to “show the other side” of the Iraq Conflict, the one NOT reported by the mainstream news media.
Even though the crime did happen and now some disgraced G.I’s are behind bars because of it, the fact this is a fictionalized account still hasn’t stopped accusations about distortion of the facts. De Palmas reply "If they can do this for the last six to seven years and pursue an amoral war, shouldn't I have the right to tell the other side of the story— to tell a greater truth?"
Redacted Poster
In the interview with Villagevoice.com Brian De Palma says "We have all these infomercials created by the Bush administration, but if you go on the Web and read soldiers' blogs or look at the pictures, you go, 'Whoa!' You see a whole different story."
Focusing on the ground forces and the inevitable bloodshed, the cinematography employs every means of visual and audio communication available to tell its horrific tale.
Based on true events and motivated largely by images of war, one photo that stayed in mind for the Director was "A fantastic picture from Darfur, of a starving baby crawling across the ground with a huge vulture a step or so behind it. I thought this was one of the most striking images out of this particular atrocity, but there are no pictures of Iraq. Why is that?"
Before the story continues, here is an absolutely hilarious clip of Bill O Reily from Foxnews calling to ban the film before he has even seen it. Even more amusing is that the judgments he makes against the film perfectly describe the network he works for and their programming. Speaking of which he even tries to play the propaganda card, which sees a fellow journalist finally infer bias on the show.
JD admits to reveling in some of the Directors more coherent efforts and even enjoying a few of the not so clear. Starting his career with low-budget, insightful social satire, Brian De Palma has always had a flair for the dramatic. (Hi Mom, Greetings)
His eye for horror unashamedly inspired by the master Alfred Hitchcock, (Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Sisters, The Fury) and what made him one of the most interesting filmmakers of the 70’s was his overtly cinematic staging of shots and scenes.
Carrie has a bloody good time
Heightening tension through obtuse angles, screeching bursts of instrumental shattering painful, squirming silences prove De Palma’s technical skills as a great manipulator of audiences.
Never afraid to linger on the carnage of his on-screen acts of physical and psychological destruction, blood dripping carnage came to a head in the operatic, ultra violent Scarface. (Though despite the myth never featured an actual shot of the chainsaw penetrating the skin…much the same trick Tarantino pulled with an ear slice)
Why is it I see no logs around?
Now again it seems he is courting controversy and loving it. John Doe couldn’t be happier because this may mark a return to his roots for the occasionally brilliant, never dull celluloid storyteller who's cinematic flair and style often outshine the narrative in his work.
To read the complete interview please visit Villagevoice.com
Here is a teaser clip for Redacted that has some cool behind the scenes shots and a few scenes from other Brian De Palma films.
Some stills from the film set to the song “A man needs to be told”
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