Former Digital Domain CEO & Auditors Sued For Fraud By … 
Fox Acquires ‘Narc’; Zac Efron Attached To Play … 
ABC’s ‘Nashville’ Undergoes Production … 
CBS Wins Season & Ties Sweep In Demo; ABC Tops Adults … 
Mike Lobell Adds Cast To ‘Eisner,’ Plots … 
Sony Shares Rise On Report That It Will Consider … 
Alki David Agrees To End Name Games With Aereo And Barry … 
Next-Gen Xbox One Unveiled With Content Including … 
UPDATE: Apple CEO Challenged For Moving “Crown … 
CAA Signs ‘Robocop’ Joel Kinnaman 
Cannes: Fleming Q&A With Steven Soderbergh: … 
ESPN Layoffs Could Reach 400 As Part Of Latest Disney Cuts 
UPDATE: Broadcast Nets Expand Nightly News For Tornado … 
Cannes: Weinstein Co Acquires Keanu-Reese Sci-Fi Pic … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Up … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Wolverine’ 
Ric Robertson Taking Paid Summer Hiatus From Movie Academy … 
Obama Scandals Bring MSNBC 7-Year Low While Fox News Rises 
Season Finale Of CBS’ ‘Mike & Molly’ … 
Ang Lee Departs FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ 
DreamWorks Eyes January For ‘Glimmer’ And Dylan … 
The director has blasted Hollywood for glorifying the sacrifices which American soldiers have made in Iraq war films, while ignoring civilian casualties. Loach, whose latest film Route Irish is competing here, said at this afternoon’s press conference that over 1 million Iraqis have died in the war and another 4 million have been exiled. “I find it disturbing that movies about the war are always about the American military,” he said.
Route Irish follows a British ex-soldier investigating the death of one of his friends in Iraq. The friend was working as a private security consultant in Baghdad. Route Irish is the name of the road that connects the airport to the Green Zone.
One key point in the film is a water-boarding sequence. Screenwriter Paul Laverty called for U.S. politicians who sanctioned water-boarding — including Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Dick Cheney — to be put on trial for breaking the Geneva Convention. “Obama has a legal obligation to investigate,” said Laverty. “Future leaders must not be allowed to undermine international law.”
Loach called the Iraq war “a monstrous crime against the Iraqi people fought for massive corporate greed”. The filmmaker said that outsourcing Iraqi security has proved incredibly costly: David Lesar, CEO of Haliburton – which services the American military — earns $12 million a year, while charging each US soldier $100 to wash one laundry bag. “We’ve had privatization of health-care, schools and the railways, so why not privatization of violence?” Loach shrugged.
The Palme d’Or director was pessimistic about democracy in Iraq ever being taking hold. The US will always want to be involved, he said. Laverty predicted many more cases of soldiers developing post-traumatic stress disorder, which, he said, takes between 14-17 years to manifest. One in 10 of the UK prison population are already ex-soldiers. This war will damage families for years after Bush and Blair have made millions from their memoirs, he said.
Loach was realistic as to whether Route Irish will change anything: “In the end, it’s a film, not a political movement.”
Loading ...
Loach is foolish to think filmmakers from any country would not make films that were centered on their own people and the struggles they endure. That’s how most stories are told, and always has been.
The Jews are still justifiably seeking compensation for WW2 Nazi atrocities. If the Iraq people find a simiar determination to pursue
the United States for justifiable compensation, would the average American citizen support the Iraq citizens as the average German citizen supported the Jewish compensation claims? Or, would they just declare the Iraqi victims as just ungrateful Ragheads.
Incorrect.
There are Jews that are seeking the return of property stolen by the Nazis & there are some people demanding that some German & Italian life insurance companies make good on policies issued to their relatives murdered by the Nazis. The insurance companies for the most part are refusing to pay since there were never any death certificates issued.
You have no historical understanding or sense of perspective, sir. The Holocaust is vastly different than the War in Iraq. Would Americans be right in asking the British for compensation from The Revolutionary War or from The War of 1812? Civilians die in wars as do armed combatants. The Holocaust was a systematic program designed to eliminate an entire group of people. You’d have drawn a better analogy by using Native Peoples in North America, rather than Iraqis.
Was TITANIC about a US girl on a US ship? Was Slumdog Millionaire about British kids in a British slum?
Titanic, in fact, was about a US girl and a US boy on a British ship.
wtf?
It was about an Irish boy.
Titanic, in fact, was about a US girl and a US boy on a British ship.
Also, not forgetting that Ken Loach does have a history of politically motivated films, with him being an ex-member of the Marxist Workers Revolutionary Party, which in itself had close ties to the regime of Saddam Hussain.
In the 1980′s, this party, which Loach was a leading light of, sent delegations over to Baghdad and when the party disinitergrated in the mid 1980′s, internal party documents reveal that money had been passed between the Baghdad government and this British left wing party.
Internal letters also reveal that the Workers Revolutionary Party may have also been involved in handing over the details of those opposed to the regime of Saddam.
Bravo.
Misery and failure and suffering are Loach’s stock-and-trade. It’s just odd that he rides to glamorous film festivals on the misery and failure and suffering of working class people.
But did he saying anything about “The Hurt Locker”? If he didn’t, then take away the headline. Irresponsible.
very typical far left rant.
Don’t take this the wrong way, chief, but it is increasingly difficult for the US to demand that people in other countries slap us on the back for being “beacons of freedom” when our military repeatedly slaughters innocent civilians all over the globe. Take Afghanistan, we’ve been so reckless in killing non-combatants with drone strikes, that the people there WANT us gone and the Taliban back.
Ultra-typical right-wing response…
Good for Loach. Every middle eastern person in Hurt Locker was either an outright enemy, a secret menace hiding in the shadows, or another anti-Arab stereotype. It was so bad that Bigelow had to throw in the cliche “soldier befriends little native kid” trope to try to offset some of the blatant rah rah racism. I still can’t believe this swill won best picture. What liberal Hollywood?
As much as I understand where he is coming from, he is forgetting one very important fact. Nearly 95% of all the civilian deaths in Iraq were caused by the enemy.
Is he going to demand that Islamic leaders around the world, face war crimes tribunals for supporting the insurgents?
Exactly what he is saying. The enemy (USA+UK+a bunch of no good coalition countries) is who killed Iraqi civilians, or set in place the environment ripe for their killing.
These no good coalition countries all for the free practice of religion, something virtually all Muslim countries refuse to do.
Did the “enemy” in Iraq commit 95% of the atrocities at Abu Ghirab?
At least the inmates didn’t get beheaded. Are you seriously still talking about Abu Ghirab? Is that all you got? Pete, you are a pathetic loser. I guess the US is responsible for all the douchebags in the middle east who strap bombs on their chests and blow themselves up in a mall or town square killing innocent people. I’m sure the president of US advised his generals to go after the innocent so we can…what exactly are we getting..oh, that’s right, we’re giving people a chance to live with a little something called freedom. Something you take for granted every day. Is Obama also involded in this master plan to rule the world an kill innocent people for fun? ARE YOU REALLY THAT SMALL MINDED. Stop reading your left wing, proprogada spewing internet sites and think for yourself – you toolshed. You’re just mad because you can’t beat your wife if she doesn’t have sex with you on demand like they do under sharia law.
I can’t believe how ungrateful you lefties are. Please move out of our country and discuss how evil doesn’t exsist and how Hilter was just misunderstood. Asalamalakum.
this is like saying the germans were not responsible for jews killed by poles. that violence would never happened if the US had not illegally invaded a sovereign state without provocation. also, many of the deaths in iraq are not due to direct killings, but due to the lack of water, power, and sewage caused by us air strikes.
Excellent point, Captain.
Islamic paramilitary death squads – whom the media taught us all to refer to as ‘insurgents’ – obliterated the Iraqi people for years, and received little or no blame.
Instead, the media chose to blame all the violence on ‘our presence’.
I agree with all his points.
I loved Hurt Locker personally as a film, and that’s not gonna change.
But there generally isn’t some focus on the Iraqis once in awhile.
also, the whole idea of just “creating democracy” in the region is ridiculous. You can’t create democracy just by privatizing everything and having elections.
Misleading headline is misleading. I was hoping for some juicy stuff being said!
Right Ken Loach – it’s always a surefire method to get a lot of press whenever you bash the U.S. and filmmakers who make a good war film – what about all the money you will make off your film? Isn’t that being mercenary, what you accuse those filmmakers of? I think you should be put on trial for old, hackneyed comments.
Oh, by the way? The bulk of Iraqis who died were terrorists – I guess you sympathize with them too.
So the 100,000 women and children civilians killed in Iraq were terrorists, were they? Or are those acceptable collateral numbers?
That’s not true at all. There have been many terrorist killings, yes, but most of the civilian casualties are innocent people just trying to make it day to day. Nearly half of Iraq’s children are orphaned. This has nothing to do with politics, just the tragic consequences of war.
Sorry, I’m not really in the commenting business, but I can’t just let this pass… I don’t know where the belief is coming from that “the bulk of Iraqis who died were terrorists”, but it is certainly not true. 105.000 Iraqi civilians have died violently during this war since 2003 up till now. Just the number itself should tell you that it’s certainly not possible that the bulk of them were terrorists. 105.000 terrorists – or at least 70.000 or whatever constitutes a “bulk” in your opinion? I don’t think so.
At the same time, I think Mr. Loach is certainly right that most of the American Iraqi war movies have dealt with the American military and not the hardships on the Iraqi people. So what? So far I have not seen one film that has defended the war itself or justified the occupation. Most of them actually are extremely critical of what has and still is going in Iraq, beginning with “In the Valley of Elah” through “Rendition” up until “Green Zone”. Still, “Battle for Haditha” or “Redacted” never shy away from showing what is happening to Iraqis – and they do it without blinking an eye. Certainly “Battle for Haditha” tells more about the way of life of common Iraqis than “Route Irish”.
“The bulk of Iraqis who died were terrorists”
First of all, I’d like to know how a comment like this gets approved on this site.
The bulk of Iraqis who died were not “terrorists,” and you’ll find no corroboration of that statement anywhere.
Really, the bulk of the 1 million dead civilians were terrorists? Are you out of your mind?
Fuck off, Amelia. You phony “patriots” are soooo quick with the false choices. Being opposed to invading a country that neither attacked us nor had anything to do with Al Queda OR 9/11 does not automatically mean “siding with the terrorists”.
Did you ever stop to think that the Iraqis don’t want us in their country? They might have hated Saddam, but they didn’t want us occupying their country OR leaving behind shiny new permanent military bases.
You’re probably one of those morons who truly think that the only reason someone might hate the US is because they “hate our freedom”.
By the way, fuckwad, what branch of the military did you enlist in when we announced the invasion of Iraq?
The level of ignorance is shocking. You have no clue because your “international” coverage lasts about 3 minutes and you obviously dont watch it, much less think about it. What an idiot.
What about the scene where the main protagonist goes AWOL to investigate the boys murder? The whole point of that scene and the following scene in the professor’s house is to show the collateral damage the occupation has on the Iraqis is it not?
He’s right.
Glorifying American soldiers?! Whoever thinks that missed the point of the film– “War is a drug.” The protag essentially tells his own kid that war is more important to him than his family. If that’s glorifying an American soldier, I guess I missed it.
Well, it’s nice to find there’s SOMEONE else who hasn’t forgotten about the violations of the Geneva Conventions and the desperate need for prosecution. Now, if only there were someone holding elected office in the U.S. federal government who had the balls to talk about it, or even in the DOJ.
We must not forget that Loach is a pro-Arab antisemite.
You do understand that the Palestinians are actually Semitic and are most assuredly not “Arabs”, don’t you?
If he was antisemite surely he would be anti-Arab? After all, more than ninety percent of the world’s ‘Semites’ are Arabs! Think before you use cliches.
Ken Loach is an extreme left-winger, but from time to time he makes a good point.
I must congratulate Ken Loach for managing to cram every liberal cliche into one rant. The “million Iraqis died” claim has been roundly disproved, but Mr. Loach doesn’t seem like one to allow facts ever to disturb his prepackaged views. I never understood the left’s rabid obsession with a relatively benign treatment like waterboarding, which was performed on a grand total of three prisoners, while ignoring the far more heinous torture of thousands of political prisoners around the world, in places like China, Syria, Iran, and pre-war Iraq. I guess those people don’t matter to Mr. Loach. Clearly he is less concerned with alleviating the maximum amount of suffering than with trendy grandstanding.
Ah, yes, the “benign” procedure known as waterboarding. The “benign” procedure that was so “benign” that the Bush officials authorized its use six or seven months BEFORE reverse engineering the dubious legal memos that “authorized” its use.
It also bears pointing out that even the US admits that over 100 prisoners of war died during interrogation. So, what other “benign” things were we doing to prisoners of war that resulted in over 100 people dying during questioning?
It’s funny to hear torture apologists argue that its ok for our country to torture in the name of preventing other countries from doing the same.
try that relatively benign treatment on your girlfriend, than ask her if she likes you, moron!
Bravo, Ken Loach!
“Oh, by the way? The bulk of Iraqis who died were terrorists – I guess you sympathize with them too.”
Amelia 22, you are an idiot.
No, Gordo, you are.
1 in 10 UK prisoners is ex military? Highly dubious. Maybe 1 in 100. And I only say that to defend his stat as a possible typo. Scuse my typos Droid Desire keyboard makes corrections a pain.
Ken Loach is a very tallented director. It’s really refreshing to see films that break away from the ethnocentric perpectives of both the US and UK governments and society and instead address the real suffering of the people who suffer from their policies.
Seems to make sense what he says, and I don’t see Hurt Locker specifically mentioned. Anyway HL was a tense thriller “blue wire red wire” movie, not a political statement or anti war film. Like a story from those old WW2 comics or movies it could have been about any war; iraq became just a current backdrop.
btw what the hell was that sniper bit in the desert about? He’s a mad man; he’s an amazing bomb disposal expert AND now suddenly he’s an amazing sniper who saves the day?
Felt like a different movie there…
EOD bomb techs train with the .50 cal sniper rifles. It took him several shots to land his hits, so i wouldnt call him amazing.
“Oh, by the way? The bulk of Iraqis who died were terrorists ”
what an amazingly ignorant and depressing statement. This country is doomed…
I have to say I agree with him. Which is surprising since I do not even like his films. But I’ve watched a lot of these US war movies, and I have to admit I been thinking, where the hell are the Iraqis/Afghans? It does sort of feel like they are a really neglected part of filmic story telling. And I know as a film maker you focus on your people but I would think after nearly ten years that soldiers stories would intertwine with the natives? Or are they really so isolated from the populace as films suggest? I would really like to know more about the relationship between soldiers and inhabitants, it seems like such a hidden topic.
A lot of Loach’s crew worked on the Hurt Locker — although, notably, they did much, much better work under Bigelow. Maybe he’s just jealous.
Hurt Locker is a fantastic movie, and a valid story — as well as a whole new paradigm in war film making. It was never marketed politically, it’s an human story about the horrors of war. It could just as easily have been about any war.
There’s nothing stopping Iraqi filmmakers telling their own story, by making their own damn movie. There’s nothing stopping Loach telling their story either.
Movie making and politics should really stay separate, but if they always did, Loach would be out of a job.
Hurt Locker was a better technical exercise then it was a complete film. It was fortunate enough to compete in a VERY light year.
Perfectly said, CTSadler!
The hurt locker is one of the slackest pieces of art ever to claim it knows anything about war. What detonator waits until AFTER a bomb tech has finished setting charges. What film stoops to using a jack in the box as a metaphor for a bomb. The public has been sold a lemon and the lemon ate Oscar. No WONDER nobody saw it, it was telefilm LITE.