The Blood of My Brother: A Story of Death in Iraq (2005)
Yönetmen Andrew Berends
Yapım :2005 Ülke : Amerika Iraq Tür : Documentary Süre : 90 dakika IMDB Puan : 6.5/10 IMDB ID: tt0488873
A.K.A The Blood of My Brother : USA), new title ()
Bilgi :Objective The primary objective of The Blood of my Brother is to illustrate the infinite ripples of grief that follow the tragic killing of even just one person. Daily news generally reports the number of people killed as a result of war in Iraq. These numbers include civilians, insurgents, American soldiers and Iraqi police. The causes include car bombs, clashes, suicide bombers, airstrikes, IEDs and assassinations. But each person killed is more than just a number. They are brothers, mothers, sons, fathers, sisters and daughters. In a country already ravaged by war, their families are left to pick up the pieces. They mourn the loss of their loved one. Often, they must struggle to make up for the absence of a breadwinner. Many falter in their attempts to heal and go on with their own lives. Narrative Summary The Blood of My Brother tells a story of the war in Iraq from a perspective rarely seen. The primary point of view is Iraqi-a family grieving at the tragic death of its eldest son. After years of hard work, Ra'ad, an Iraqi portrait photographer, has saved enough money to open his own shop. On the night of the opening, while volunteering to guard the ancient Imam Kadhim mosque in the Shia neighborhood of Kadhimiya, Ra'ad is shot and killed by an American patrol. Longing for revenge, Ra'ad's brother Ibrahim dreams of joining the Shia uprising against the American occupation. But as the only male left in the family, Ibrahim must take on the role of breadwinner. "When I see a burning tank, it makes me happy. When I see any Americans or Jews, I want revenge, but I can't. I have to take care of the house." While some of his friends leave home to fight the Americans, Ibrahim attempts to carry on with his brother's business and provide for his mother and two sisters. While following Ra'ad's grief-stricken family through this tragedy, The Blood of My Brother brings to life the many forces at play in Iraq today. Wherever the drama leads, the camera is at the heart of the action, with extraordinary access to violence, emotion, and Iraqi life. The viewer forgets the camera entirely and steps into the shoes of the characters on screen, sharing a range of experiences: often sad, sometimes heart-pounding, and occasionally cathartic. When Ra'ad's mother and sisters visit his grave for the first time, they scream, sob, and beat the stone with their heads and fists. The camera looks up at them as if from Ra'ad's perspective. When Mehdi Army resistance fighters fire on American positions, the camera is on the Iraqi sniper's shoulder. When U.S. tanks advance on the gold-domed mosque that Ra'ad once guarded, the camera is on the American gunner's shoulder. Inside the ancient mosque, Sheikh al-Kadhimi preaches fiery sermons against those same Americans. The camera peeks around his turban to look upon a sea of men chanting "Allah Akbar!" As heavily armed Iraqi police ruthlessly open fire on unarmed Shia demonstrators, the camera-and the viewer along with it-are smack in the center. When Ibrahim mourns his brother's death, the viewer can't help but mourn with him. Although Ra'ad's story begins with him dead in the street, bullets in his abdomen and head, we come to know him through the photographs he left behind. He had a special talent for making portraits of children. Through these images, we see that Ra'ad was gentle and loving. Through the troubled eyes of the children in his images, we see the suffering of all Iraq during many years of war, repression, and killing. From his friends and family, we learn that Ra'ad's only dream was to succeed with his photography shop. On the subject of his loss, Ibrahim speaks emotionally and poetically, invoking great sorrow. His black eyes reveal deep pain. At other times, Ibrahim behaves like a child, wanting to have fun and forget. In the months following Ra'ad's death, Ibrahim proves inept at the business of running the photography shop. He sinks into depression. His family suffers. Haunted by memories of Ra'ad and unable to make a profit, he is forced to sell the shop. Meanwhile, in a cruel reminder to Ibrahim, armor and infantry battalions from the American Army 1st Cavalry continue daily operations in and around Kadhimiya. But as they patrol the narrow market streets of the old city and conduct nighttime raids, young American soldiers speak up as well. Specialist Muñoz tells of joining the army to escape drugs and support his daughter. Ramirez joined to avoid a life of migrant farm labor in Minnesota. Lieutenant Goins always wanted to be a soldier since he first played with G.I. Joe. (He was later killed by a Mehdi army fighter in Najaf.) Woods tells about the experience of having to kill. Tervel recounts the emotions of losing a buddy to enemy fire, exposing the same pain that weighs so heavily on Ibrahim. Parallel to Ibrahim's decline, in the six months following Ra'ad's death from April through September 2004, the situation throughout Iraq steadily deteriorates. Beginning with the killing and mutilation of four American mercenaries in the Sunni city of Fallujah and the exposure of human rights violations against Iraqis in Abu Graib prison, the level of brutality on all sides rises. The American military launches its first onslaught of Fallujah, killing a handful of insurgents and at least six hundred civilians. Daily attacks of all kinds cause the deaths of dozens of Iraqis and Americans alike. Terrorists first undertake the kidnapping and execution of foreigners. Moktada al-Sadr incites a popular Shia uprising with the formation of the Mehdi army, consisting of predominantly poor and dispossessed Shia youth including some subjects of this film. In Kadhimiya, while Sheikh al-Kadhimi preaches violence against the American invaders, other voices of Shia Islam are heard. In a smaller mosque dwarfed by the glorious Imam Kadhim, faithful Shia Muslims speak of their devotion to an Islam that preaches not violence but peace, brotherhood, hospitality and loyalty to Mohammed. "Fight the Americans if you will, but not in the name of Allah!" The Blood of My Brother introduces the viewer to war-torn Iraq with intimate detail and experience. Viewing this film is the closest most will ever come to actually being there, smelling the shawarma in the heat, kneeling in prayer amidst a thousand Muslim worshippers, kicking down a sleeping family's door, the roar of low-flying Apaches, riding atop a sixty-ton tank in a strange and foreign land, driving with masked resistance fighters to attack American positions, fleeing the threat of an overwhelming response, the blood in the street, a tank on fire, or the cold, distant stare of a dying Iraqi fighter. The overwhelming pain of loss is something we all experience at one time or another. The story of Ra'ad's death and his family's struggle to cope with the loss is universal. An American mother who lost a son in Iraq will relate to Ra'ad's mother's experience not as an American, but as a mother. It is the same pain, imbued with the same burden of pointlessness. Lieutenant Tervel remarks on the comrades he lost, "I will always remember them, and, God willing, there won't be any others." Ibrahim reflects, "Just water fallen on the Earth. How can it be collected?"
