Article: Body of war review "Kansas City vet puts real face on Iraq war"
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Kansas City vet puts real face on Iraq war
By Joe Williams POST-DISPATCH FILM CRITIC
16 May 2008
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
First Edition
E2
'Body of War' A- Not rated; 1:27 Contains strong language Bottom line: Vital documentary about the human cost of the war.
When politicians talk about the cost of the war "in blood and treasure," that's needlessly flowery language for lives and money. Most voters can't conceive of a trillion dollars, because the operation in Iraq is the most expensive endeavor in human history.
But anyone with a functioning heart can see the cost to Tomas Young, a paralyzed veteran from Kansas City who is profiled in the powerful documentary "Body of War."
The directing debut of former talk-show host Phil Donahue is profoundly troubling and is bound to be dismissed by some as unpatriotic. Yet it does an honorable service by putting a human face on a battlefield statistic.
Two days after the 9/11 attacks, Young answered the president's call to arms and joined the Army to fight the attackers in Afghanistan. Instead, he was sent to Iraq. Less than a week later, Young was riding in the back of an unprotected truck and was shot through the spine by a sniper. He was paralyzed from the chest down.
Young was treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals (including one in St. Louis) and discharged from the Army. The film follows Young as he tries to adjust to civilian life, starting with his wedding day. Donahue and co-directer Ellen Spiro are alert for pertinent details, such as when his bride's wedding dress gets caught in the spokes of Young's wheelchair.
The film is unflinchingly detailed about the physical and emotional challenges that Young faces. Because his stomach muscles are paralyzed, he can't cough and is thus prone to respiratory infections. His body can't regulate its temperature, so he has to wear a vest full of ice packs to keep from fainting in warm weather.
And Young is acerbically funny when he explains the pumps and injections that are necessary for him to get an erection.
Mastering his body coincides with the growth of his political consciousness. He was shot on the same day and in the same town as Cindy Sheehan's late son Casey. Young, his wife and his mother join Sheehan at antiwar rallies in Texas and Washington - and get heckled by pro-war onlookers - even as Young's little brother is deployed to Iraq.
This is an unmistakably activist film, with songs by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam to underscore the tragedy, and periodic excerpts from the Senate debate to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein.
As the war supporters parrot the propaganda about mushroom clouds, the unlikely Mr. Smith who stands up to them is Robert Byrd, the octogenarian Democrat from West Virginia, who says that this vote to surrender congressional oversight is the most important of his 40 years in office.
At the end of this heart-wrenching film, when Young meets with Byrd in his office, these two men from different generations are both infirm. Yet it's impossible not to see that they both stand tall.
Kansas City vet puts real face on Iraq war
By Joe Williams POST-DISPATCH FILM CRITIC
16 May 2008
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
First Edition
E2
'Body of War' A- Not rated; 1:27 Contains strong language Bottom line: Vital documentary about the human cost of the war.
When politicians talk about the cost of the war "in blood and treasure," that's needlessly flowery language for lives and money. Most voters can't conceive of a trillion dollars, because the operation in Iraq is the most expensive endeavor in human history.
But anyone with a functioning heart can see the cost to Tomas Young, a paralyzed veteran from Kansas City who is profiled in the powerful documentary "Body of War."
The directing debut of former talk-show host Phil Donahue is profoundly troubling and is bound to be dismissed by some as unpatriotic. Yet it does an honorable service by putting a human face on a battlefield statistic.
Two days after the 9/11 attacks, Young answered the president's call to arms and joined the Army to fight the attackers in Afghanistan. Instead, he was sent to Iraq. Less than a week later, Young was riding in the back of an unprotected truck and was shot through the spine by a sniper. He was paralyzed from the chest down.
Young was treated at Veterans Affairs hospitals (including one in St. Louis) and discharged from the Army. The film follows Young as he tries to adjust to civilian life, starting with his wedding day. Donahue and co-directer Ellen Spiro are alert for pertinent details, such as when his bride's wedding dress gets caught in the spokes of Young's wheelchair.
The film is unflinchingly detailed about the physical and emotional challenges that Young faces. Because his stomach muscles are paralyzed, he can't cough and is thus prone to respiratory infections. His body can't regulate its temperature, so he has to wear a vest full of ice packs to keep from fainting in warm weather.
And Young is acerbically funny when he explains the pumps and injections that are necessary for him to get an erection.
Mastering his body coincides with the growth of his political consciousness. He was shot on the same day and in the same town as Cindy Sheehan's late son Casey. Young, his wife and his mother join Sheehan at antiwar rallies in Texas and Washington - and get heckled by pro-war onlookers - even as Young's little brother is deployed to Iraq.
This is an unmistakably activist film, with songs by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam to underscore the tragedy, and periodic excerpts from the Senate debate to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein.
As the war supporters parrot the propaganda about mushroom clouds, the unlikely Mr. Smith who stands up to them is Robert Byrd, the octogenarian Democrat from West Virginia, who says that this vote to surrender congressional oversight is the most important of his 40 years in office.
At the end of this heart-wrenching film, when Young meets with Byrd in his office, these two men from different generations are both infirm. Yet it's impossible not to see that they both stand tall.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
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