Tony, Gerber and Jesse, Moss FULL RATTLE BATTLE USA, 2007, 35mm, 92'
Lun 16 - h. 14.30, Teatro Dal Verme
Produzione - Production: Market Road Films and Mile End Films
Produttore - Producer: Tony, Gerber / Jesse, Moss
Sceneggiatura - Screenplay: Tony, Gerber / Jesse, Moss
Montaggio - Editing: Alex Hall, Pax Wassermann, Youna Kwak
Fotografia - Cinematography: Tony Gerber, Jesse Moss
Sound Editor: Patrick Cicero
Musica - Music: Paul Brill
Distribuzione - Distribution: Films Transit International
Tony Gerber: 718-855-5565, tonygerber@earthlink.net
C'č la guerra in California. Nel bel mezzo del Mojave Desert l'esercito americano ha creato un "Iraq virtuale" a scopi di addestramento militare. Una zona di simulazione di guerra che č costata un miliardo di dollari e dove molte centinaia di cittadini iracheni interpretano la parte dei protagonisti. E dove i soldati americani trascorrono gli ultimi tre mesi prima di partire per l'Iraq, quello vero.
There's war going on in California. In the middle of the Mojave Desert the American military has created a "virtual Iraq" for training purposes. It took one billion dollars to set up this simulated war zone where several hundred Iraqis, decked out in battle gear, take part as "protagonists". US army units usually spend three weeks at this training camp before being detailed to Iraq.
FULL BATTLE RATTLE is the story of a real war and a fake town. In California's Mojave
Desert, the US Army has built a "virtual Iraq" - a billion dollar urban warfare simulation - and
populated it with hundreds of Iraqi role-players. Army units spend three weeks inside the
simulation before deploying to Iraq.
FULL BATTLE RATTLE follows an Army Battalion through the simulation, as they attempt to
quell an insurgency and prevent the mock village of Medina Wasl from slipping into civil war.
The story is told from both sides of the conflict, and filtered through a compelling cast of
characters, including the Army Colonel who commands the Battalion, the Iraqi exiles who play civilians on the battlefield, and the American soldiers cast as "insurgents." We follow our subjects from the moment they receive their role assignments through their simulated "deaths". Despite the movie-set contrivances, the stakes and the emotions are very real. As reality and fantasy overlap, the film moves from comic to surreal to poignant.
Will the Army improve life in Medina Wasl and win the "hearts and minds" of the people, or will their mistakes propel the town into violent civil war? Does the fate of Medina Wasl reflect the Army's rose-colored vision of success, or suggest that the Army has lost control of their script? And what happens to the "actors" on this stage after the curtain falls and they resume their "real" lives? Through these intimate stories - of Iraqi exiles fleeing the war (and now "playing" it) and US Soldiers heading into it - FULL BATTLE RATTLE provides a revelatory look at the soul of the American war machine, and, in the battle for Medina Wasl, finds a potent allegory of the Iraq War and the cultural and religious differences that confound America's efforts.
"While we both have strong and similar feelings about the war, we neither set out to make a "pro war" nor an "anti war" film. Nor did we set out to discover facts that would conform to a set of rigid political beliefs. Rather, our intention was to examine this world from the inside, and allow viewers to decide for themselves. We believe this is one of the great strengths of the film".
Biografia - Biography:
Alexandre O. Philippe holds a Masters Degree in Dramatic Writing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he won both the Founder's Day Award and the Senior Achievement Award. He is the Director of the Lighthouse Screenwriting Program (formerly known as the Denver Screenwriting Center) and the Denver Screenplay Bank (divisions of Lighthouse Writers, Inc. in association with the Denver Film Society). His stage plays have been produced in San Francisco and New York City in venues such as La MaMa, ETC, The Provincetown Playhouse, and Musical Theater Works. After several years as a working screenwriter, Alexandre turned to directing.
Alexandre has also recently been selected by the City of Greeley (North of Denver) and by Denver Water to direct two documentaries about the importance and relevance of water in Colorado. He is an interviewer for Creature Comforts USA (Aardman Studios), which will premiere on CBS in 2007.
