“Battle for Haditha,” directed by the bold and daring Nick Broomfield, is one of those nuanced war films that attempts, successfully so, to place the viewer in the centre of unthinkable atrocity by stripping away as much artifice as possible, to produce a film that can boast the immediacy of a documentary, the aesthetic feeling of one too, as well as the observant humanisation of one of those over-sensationalised dramas pertaining to the emotional impact of war. While the film is not successful every step of the way, it is one of the most riveting war-themed films of recent times, capturing not just the explosions, resultant bloodshed and turmoil on the battle field, but the internal war that rages on to no avail; the rage that has been explored time and time again, but hardly to the disturbing effect that can be witnessed in this particular dramatisation by the man who brought us the provocative documentaries “Biggie and Tupac,” “Kurt & Courtney” and “Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer.” Just as the improvisation on behalf of the mostly unprofessional cast, most of whom are ex-marines, benefits the docu-stylisation of the film, it also comes across as forced, unsubtle and blunt most of the time, limiting emotional connectivity and weakening the overall impact the film had on me.

Recalling the startling events of the 19th of November 2005, where twenty-four Iraqi civilians, a few of them being children and woman and fifteen having been confirmed as not being insurgent collaborators, were brutally killed by United States marines stationed in Haditha, Baghdad, as revenge for an attack by means of a roadside bomb, or I.E.D, that took the life of one of their own men, not forgetting to mention injuring two others. The story is told from three angles; that of those who initially planted the I.E.D, the US marines who set out to get revenge after it exploded, and those in the neighbourhood who would end up bearing the burden of both occurrences, innocent or not.

The roadside bomb that sparked the revengeful massacre was planted by a former Iraqi soldier Ahmad (Falah Abraheem Flayeh) and his juvenile friend Jafar (Oliver Bytrus), who agree to go along with it because they have had enough of the American invasion, and if they could get them out by simply complying with the Al Qaeda, they would sure as hell jump at the opportunity. Amongst all the plotting, in terms of those planting the bomb and then those who plan to retaliate, a family right across the street where the roadside bomb was planted are jovially celebrating the circumcision of a young boy, and just happen to be in the wrong place at the worst possible time. This particular group of people are trapped in an awful set-up – if they snitch on the insurgents, they would be killed by Al Qaeda, and if they keep their information to themselves, they would be labelled as combatants who are complying with the insurgent forces. Die if you do, die if you don’t.

Without divulging into the political opinions of all involved, let’s just say they don’t exactly see eye to eye, and with neither groups willing to budge, those caught in the middle stay there and the plight of the Iraqi people – those that were meant to have benefitted from the invasion – ends up in the dust. Cultural differences aside, Broomfield takes an attentive approach to fleshing out his characters, yet his ability to steer well away from stereotype is well concealed. His three principle characters, Corporal Ramirez (Elliot Ruiz), Ahmad and Hiba (Yasmine Hanani) a pregnant member of the family whose involvement in the battle was purely accidental, are by far those who are given the most time to develop out of stereotype and take form as multi-dimensional incarnations of those faces present in news stories and international exposes. Now we get to put more than just faces to the names, we get a more personal, internal construction of them as well – albeit a little too idealised and simple to warrant any serious satisfaction from the viewers perspective. Yet, it shows the characters as humans, not news stories, participating in activities you don’t often hear about; falling in love, celebration, ordinary family life – and when watching “Battle for Haditha” one realises that, surprise-surprise, the Iraqis are human too. This raw power of the unknown or unexplored coming to light marks the success of the film.

The way in which Broomfield weaves the main three groups of vastly different individuals together generates the manifestation of unflinching tension which awakens something that runs deeper than visceral methodology – and this awakening never lets up, propelling the captivation of the viewer beyond simple entertainment. Nick Broomfield’s stance on the war does not come across as entirely neutral; however he suitably detaches his own opinions and conveys a fair, even-handed replication that deserves to be seen. Whether it deserves to be held in the same esteem as all-time greats such as “Platoon” is another story all together, but in terms of the Iraqi-war themed films, it most definitely shines a little brighter than the rest. Whether or not that says much either, I am not sure.

Fatac Rating: ***

Battle for Haditha. Directed by Nick Broomfield. Written by: Nick Broomfield, Marc Hoeferlin and Anna Telford. Cinematography by Mark Wolf. Music by Nick Laird-Clowes. Starring: Elliot Ruiz, Yasmine Hanani, Andrew McLaren, Matthew Knoll, Thomas Hennessey, Oliver Bytrus. Running Time: 97 minutes. Age Restriction: Not Rated. Year: 2008. Rating out of five stars.