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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.”
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“the bulk of iraqis who died were terrorists?” what utter nonsense.
why get so defensive about it all? he has a right to say whatever he wants, make whatever movies he wants, and so do you all. go make your own goddamn movies.
“The bulk of Iraqis who died were terrorists”
That’s what we get when no facts are being reported on US cable — self-serving ignorance and lies. “Shock and awe” meant killing hundreds of thousands of civilians. Of course the US military made a point to not count such things.
US filmmakers focus on Americans in Iraq War films because they are selling the movies to largely American audiences. Same reason Ken Loach’s film focuses on British people.
Seriously though, since he never mentioned The Hurt Locker by name, its kind of ridiculous to put it in the headline. I mean, The Hurt Locker is one of the few Iraq films that even acknowledges the existence of coalition forces (ie the scene with Ralph Fiennes). Also, I don’t agree with the person who criticized The Hurt Locker for having “every Middle Eastern person as an enemy.” It wasn’t so much that every Arab-looking person was evil, but that, from the perspective of the main characters any of them could be. Bigelow wasn’t necessarily endorsing that perspective, but merely presenting it (as it probably would be rather accurate for American bomb squads in Iraq) and exploiting it to increase dramatic tension. I don’t think that we were meant to think that every Middle Eastern person was evil, rather we were supposed to see how easy it was to believe that and how paranoid it could make you.
Should have asked him about Polanski.
…an anti-American prick.
Lot’s of BS here.
Only liars and imbeciles believe that war won’t kill civilians.
And the more potent your weapons the worse the causalities.
Why else would every new American war get more and more restricted for independent reporting
You might believe in the propaganda, I don’t.
War’s don’t kill soldiers, foremost they kill civilian’s.
You know, those without weapons, and protection.
That you Americans can’t stomach that is a weakness.
And hiding the numbers may work in the states
But other countries do know how to count.
You may not like his movie, but a little Google will soon tell you that his numbers are in line with what have happened.
And that Haliburton have made it into a big business is pathetic.
Using soldiers too making a buck more.
Patriotic?
Naah.
Commercial.
Oh yes..
Big business, wars.
Moro…I mean Yoron, this isn’t firebombing Dresden like the RAF, it is using smart munitions so one bomb can do precisely what it took hundreds to do in the past. It is absorbing casualties instead of inflicting collateral damage to civilians when it would be far easier to declare free fire zones like in Viet Nam. It is obvious that you don’t have a clue about the casualty numbers you’ve invented cooking in your fevered little mind. Make sure to subtract the tens of thousands found in Saddam’s mass graves.
How come no one has mentioned anything about the $100 to wash a laundry bag yet. That’s the thing that stuck out most to me. I do suppose water is expensive in those parts…maybe.
If you’ve got proof they’re hosing people, show it. Don’t throw around large numbers, a man’s salary, and cry out that there’s a connection.
The CEO makes a lot of money because his company makes a lot of products people use. Period. You might as well complain the Ipod is $150 while Steve Jobs makes a ton off his Apple stock.
I wonder when he is going to make a film about the Republic of Zimbabwe under
President Robert Mugabe or maybe Sudan.
There is such evil in the world that is done not by outsiders
but by the people in their own country.
Perhaps a movie on the UN who recently Elected Iran to the Commission on Women’s Rights?” The women in Iran are being persecuted but
the UN doesn’t care and I wonder if Mr Loach cares?
It’s easy to blame America for everything all you get is extra Hollywood Press.
So, in other words, because other countries do bad things, then it’s perfectly acceptable for the US to do the EXACT SAME THINGS?
Nope, moron./ Just pointing out the typical liberal hypocrisy—no matter how evil someone non-American country is, and how much good the US tries to do and does, scum like you will always celebrate the US as evil and the non-Americans (no matter how bloodstained) as perfect angels.
You do it for Castro, Chavez, Che, Mao, Stalin, and now Hussein. You’re nothing but people looking to smear the US at any and every turn.
I want to see Ken make a movie about how the Americans bombed German cities during World War II and killed and maimed millions of German men, women, and children. And the profits American corporations made in the process. And senselessness of it all considering that the Germans had nothing to do with the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The whole “Germany declared war on the US within days of Pearl Harbor” and “German subs were blanketing the US East Coast” and “Nazis attempted to bribe US officials” don’t really register with you , do they?
That’s interesting. Loach rants about Americans not making films about Iraqis being killed, yet he makes a movie about a British soldier in Iraq. Why not just make a film about an Iraqi?
People who live in glass movie theaters shouldn’t throw hand grenades.
Loach has been a virulent anti-semite, let’s be more accurate, he hates Jews almost as much as he hates everything America. That a war movie shouldn’t be about soldiers? It’s called a viewpoint. Sure you do a war movie from the viewpoint of the civilians but that’s a director’s choice. Let him make his own movies although they are rarely seen anywehere. As a filmmaker he’s always been less than medoicre and unimportant which is why he needs to fan the fire with “causes” that eleicit press.
Funny. I see all these people telling us how evil America (or anybody western) is. Yet – so far I don’t see any of them immigrating to Iraq, or Zimbabwe, or Iran, or…..
You get the point.
Hypocritical morons!
Ken Loach simly the BEST
“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”
Yes,tell them if they will think and understand that.Saddam is not connected to 9/11 or have attacked UK before,Iraqis didn’t want Americans occupying their country even then hated Saddam.
9/11 was never used to justify the Iraq invasion. You lose on logic there, kiddo.
we always witnessed people in favor or against on certain issues in the western society, this is not more than a facelift of an old civilized world. There is a need to make public opinion on such issues. After all as Ken said “in the end its a film not a political movement” I hope such effort turns in to a right move to mobilize people on that particular issue and beyond.
Shahid Nadeem, Pakistan
we always witnessed people in favor or against on certain issues in the western society, this is not more than a facelift of an old civilized world. There is a need to make public opinion on such issues. After all as Ken said “in the end its a film not a political movement” I hope such effort turns in to a right move to mobilize people on that particular issue and beyond.
very true. even bigelows oscar speech was all about the poor troops but no word about the suffering iraqi civilians (or any civilians in a war zone of that matter). ancient wars always had 80% soldiers dying and 20% civilians. this has radically changed around in the last several wars.
Mr. Loach is certainly free to make any movie he wants, but American audiences aren’t really interested in films trashing the military. I doubt British audiences are very keen on that either, but all of us morons who actually view the movies don’t have the moral clarity given by the view from a film director’s chair. I very highly doubt Mr. Loach has personally done anything for Iraqi civilans either.
How predictable and boring a speech Mr. Loach.
Ken: Just make good films… “If You Want to Send a Message, Call Western Union”!
If he made the movie during WWII; his figures of civilian deaths would be exponentially higher by twenty-fold. And…if his narrater was a Japanese stereotype…because in the 1940′s the stereotype was not able to pronounce the letter ‘L’, except as ‘R’. everyone knows that historical fact. I therefore postulate, rant against the obvious conspiracy against people with last names beginning with ‘L’. Down with the ‘R’s'! Roach, roach, roach. Even the ‘Riar’s’ should be pronounced ‘Liar’s. The more PC term of use.
I don’t know, or care, who Ken Loach is. But I’m sure he is an infidel.
Revisionist history. Stock and trade of the Hollywood Left.
Threadwinner.
Yeah, the CEO of Halliburton charges $100 for laundry. Right. This filmaker is beyond stupid. These losers all think Iraqis were better off under Saddam and his murderous regime instead of having the free choice they have now. It just proves you can’t fix stupid.
liberals hate freedom, because they can’t force people to do what they say anymore. That’s why they love dictators—witness how many dictators they stick up for around the world.
Once you hear a lefty say, “there have been 1,000,000 Iraqi deaths since the invasion!”, you realize a larger pack of lies are on the way.The left has thrown that number around since 2006/2007. The war started in 2003.Feel free to divide 1,000,000 by 4.Then figure how 250,000 civilians were killed every year which means 20,000 a month or about 650 dead every day….650 deaths a day!!? That is complete BS. These lefties will lie any chance they get.
I’m sure this will be another winner at the box office. The template for a hit modern war film is there (“Blackhawk Down”) but Liberal douches can’t stomach giving the people what they want to see — i.e. a fair and accurate portrayal of our men and women fighting overseas and the bravery and sacrifice they demonstrate every day, while assistants open Ken Loach’s spring water bottles for him.