I LOVE pretty much anything I can get my hands on to do with the Middle East, be it aspects of the culture, religion and history or concerned with American involvement, (I can watch The Hurt Locker and Jarhead over and over again, am practically giddy for the return of Homeland, and Khaled Hosseini made me weep with The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns) but will readily admit I know next to nothing factually about the region. I – rather embarrassingly – couldn’t even confidently label the countries in the area on a map. However, there is something about the topic that has me fascinated and despite my lack of historical knowledge or an acute awareness of current affairs I will ALWAYS chose to watch or read a text on the Middle East over anything else. I can’t explain it, perhaps it is the historian in me, but I just find it compelling.
United 93 (one of my favourite films of all time) director Paul Greengrass explores the aftermath of the Iraq invasion by adapting author Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s literary exposé “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone”. A onetime Baghdad bureau chief of the Washington Post, Chandrasekaran was present as American forces attempted to set up a provisional government on the grounds surrounding former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s opulent palace. The resulting governing body, according to critics, existed in a bubble so far-removed from the grim realities of the Iraq War that it failed to properly assess the needs of the people. Green Zone is set during the US-led occupation of Baghdad, with Greengrass and screenwriter Brian Helgeland using Chandrasekaran’s journalistic account as the foundation for the story of an officer who joins forces with a senior CIA officer to unearth evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Following the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his men are charged with finding the WMDs that the Pentagon and their man in Baghdad, Poundstone, were certain that Hussein had been stockpiling in the Iraqi desert. As Miller and his team race from one empty site to the next, they soon stumble across evidence of an elaborate cover up, confirming the facts put forward by veteran CIA officer Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson) that the location of WMDs were falsified. Quickly, Miller begins to realise that operatives on both sides of the conflict are attempting to spin the story in their favour. Thus begins a hunt for the truth, but who’s playing whom?
Green Zone boasts an impressive cast, with Matt Damon at the helm. He brings the intelligence, intensity and determination he excelled at in the Bourne films, however this time Damon brings a more resolute American action-hero. This is a twenty-first action man at his best, kicking arse in Iraq - both physically with the enemy and mentally with incompetent politicians. Despite the complexity and importance of the political mind games it is impossible to ignore the action. Damon handles a gun like a pro, darts around the rabbit-warren of Baghdad like he should change career, and looks effortlessly at home in an American army uniform (as producer Tim Bevan said: “Matt is the everyman”). His performance provides the catalyst to a Pandora’s box of questions about American involvement in Iraq, and his prowess in the action sequences only adds weight to the heavier and intense scenes.
Amy Ryan asks questions she’s not supposed to ask as Wall Street Journal reporter Lawrie Dayne; Jason Isaacs sports some pretty dodgy facial hair and a faultless American accent as the fearless officer Briggs; Greg Kinnear is Clark Poundstone, the incompetent suit that would do a deal with the devil if it meant he’d get his own way; Brendan Gleeson represents the CIA faction as Martin Brown, complete with the standard dollop of secrecy; and Khalid Abdalla of The Kite Runner plays Freddy, the Iraqi who deliberately gets Miller’s attention to warn them of a suspicious meeting, becoming increasingly important to Miller as the film progresses and delivering the eerily poignant line “it is not for you [the Americans] to decide what happens here.” A pretty impressive supporting cast, really.
The most significant aspect of the film, however, has to be that the cast was made up of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. Quite frankly: what an ingenious idea on Greengrass’s part. The soldiers unquestioningly followed orders from Damon as their superior, who affirmed that the whole point of them being there was to turn up and be who they really are. As a result the Hollywood actors and real-life soldiers worked off each other adding an unrivalled authenticity. A key trademark of Greengrass is to give his actors the freedom to take scenes in whatever direction they feel their character would go. This worked incredibly well here as the soldiers provided invaluable experience and added a polish to the overall performance. Essentially they turned up on set and just behaved as they would if they were back in Iraq – that’s the kind of impulsive, intense reactions you just couldn’t get from an actor no matter how good they are. It all seemed so effortless from a cast that created the foundation for the drama. You never focus on the soldiers in the background as you normally do with extras: there’re no abnormalities or anything that could detract from the real, meaty action of the script. You zone in on the actors from the second the film starts and your attention only wavers from them to acknowledge the remarkable nature of the soldiers when you realise you haven’t been distracted by them yet and make a conscious effort to look for them. It’s authentic, believable and undoubtedly real.
This is all backed up by stunning camera work. The use of hand held cameras made you feel like you’re on the ground with the soldiers, working alongside them searching for WMDs and running through buildings and dodging bullets with them. It’s claustrophobic and stressful, terrifying and electric. Greengrass ensured that the Baghdad (Spain and Morocco masquerading as Iraq) scenes were chaotic – an undiluted reflection of the actual situation in Iraq, but somehow there is clarity to the proceedings that means you never lose sight of what you’re supposed to see. The shots are continually short and snappy, heightening the pace of the film and your heart beat!
Green Zone is a big budget movie for a big audience but still makes you think. That’s the beauty of a Greengrass film. It throws up lots of questions and that’s why I loved it. You can take it purely at face value and accept it solely as a film, an exaggeration of the facts in order to make money at the box office, or you can look a step further and look beyond the Hollywood veneer. The film poses the main issue of the ambiguity of the morality of the American entry into Iraq, and Miller’s wake-up call conveniently coincides with ours. But, is it a little too late? Why did they really go into Iraq? Miller himself states “the reasons we go to war always matter.” How can the American army ever be successful if the suits in Langley provide information that creates problems on the ground? The questions are endless, exposing the faults of the American army rather than celebrating its greatness – a refreshing approach alongside a subtle acknowledgement that Iraq was a mistake and we will be paying for it for decades to come.
The tension is never-ending: it’s a well-written script and a rousing action thriller that has a deep political conscience. Green Zone entertains from start to finish, an undisputedly powerful brainy blockbuster that hooks you from the on-set and mercilessly drags you along for the ride. All good things must come to an end, but thanks to Greengrass and Damon you never want the credits to roll.
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