by
David O Russell
"The
military is something for 19-year-olds who don't question
authority and are willing to get themselves shot," says
George Clooney. "A reasonable adult would never follow an
order like 'storm the hill!'."
Director
Russell (Flirting With Disaster, 1996) draws on Vietnam
combat experiences, but his bizarre and at times even surreal
action-comedy mixture is neither a straightforward war adventure,
nor a jingoistic tear-jerker. Russell was more concerned
with depicting the absurd situation behind enemy lines,
where US bombs are still dropped to this day an unusually
differentiated approach for a Hollywood film.
The nuanced use of colour and participation of Iraqi
exiles enhance the film's credibility reason enough
for Clooney to get into uniform and, weapon in hand, demonstrate
against the folly of war.
Andreas
Kern
