In this striking documentary shot in 2003, early on in the US-led war on Iraq, a group of American soldiers in Baghdad who have taken over a bombed-out palace that belonged to Uday Hussein, the son of Saddam Hussein, offer the camera a view on their world. While they party poolside for most of the day and lead raids on homes of suspected bomb-builders most nights, they also have a lot to say about the war and their situation. Rapping to each other or to the camera, they use rhyme to speak their minds about various aspects of the war, their day-to-day duties, and life in Iraq. Their youth and immaturity is striking, as is the war itself and the nebulous reasons that they are stationed there. While the primary purpose of GUNNER PALACE is to give the perspective of the soldiers, secondarily viewers get a glimpse of Iraqi civilians and how they react to the US military presence--some are terrified, others are skeptical, still others are compliant and grateful if not totally sure why. However, giving voice to the soldiers remains the film's major theme, and for this reason, filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein appealed the original R-rating given to the film by the MPAA, and won. With a PG-13 rating, filmmakers explained, teenagers considering military careers can watch the film and benefit from seeing soldiers in combat and hearing them talk about what it's like.

MARCH 11, 2005 (NATIONAL)

DVD Features:

Region (unknown)
Audio:
Stereo 2.0
Surround Sound 5.1
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes
U.S. Theatrical Trailer
DVD Rom Features:
Weblinks

Mike Tucker: Director, GUNNER PALACE (2005)

Petra Epperlein: Director, GUNNER PALACE (2005)

"GUNNER PALACE, in its savage, intelligent, boisterous messiness, is a welcome antidote to the self-convinced rhetoric of pundits and politicians..."
"Co-directors Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein trade on the intimacy granted by portable cameras to give us a sense of nerve-racking days and nights..."
"GUNNER PALACE is a riveting and indispensable record of the war in Iraq because it comes from the men who lived it."
"GUNNER PALACE is a highly mediated, aesthetically tweaked artifact. Of course, that's exactly the point..."
"[Tucker] serves up vérité slices of the regiments daily lives, the sort that rarely make it onto the news."
"[A] fierce, honest, often poetic tale of modern war, told by the soldiers who are its conduits with a verve and mindfulness missing from TV news reports."