THE WAR YOU DON’T SEE

A REVIEW

Directed by	Alan Lowery           John Pilger
Produced by	Alan Lowery            John Pilger            Christopher Hird
Written by	John Pilger
Narrated by	John Pilger
Starring	John Pilger             Rageh Omaar             Dan Rather             Mark Curtis             Carne Ross             Cynthia McKinney             Julian Assange
Music by	Sacha Puttnam
Cinematography	Rupert Binsley
Editing by	Joe Frost
Studio	Dartmouth Films
Release date(s)	December 13, 2010
Running time	97 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

            The real casualty of war, indeed, is truth but, it isn't the only casualty. The war that you don't see is an intriguing documentary that takes the viewer beyond the veil and exposes the bitter reality behind the wars that take place in the name of valour, courage and sacrifice. John Pilger, who has been a vociferous critic of the ‘imperialist’ foreign policies of USA, UK and Australia, has once again raised the issue of useless and needless wars in the name of establishing democracy in the so called disturbed regions and also taunted the culture of the so called ‘embedded journalists’ .

            The film begins with the World War I Prime Minister of Britain David Lloyd George telling the, then, Guardian editor C P Scott that, “If the people really knew the truth, the war would be stopped tomorrow.” What follows is a series of questionnaire to eminent media personalities like Stuart Ewen, Melvin Goodman, Dan Rather, Rageh Omaar, David Rose, Dahr Jamail, Mark Manning etc. and exclusive footage that reveal the real life scenarios during the Iraq war shootouts killing innocent civilians. Mr. Pilger also interviews former British diplomat Carne Ross and the US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who, respectively, testify the sufferings of Iraqi civilians and criticize the Obama administration for not withdrawing the troops. Then comes the whistleblowing icon Julian Assange who asserts that, investigative journalists are the number one threat to the menacing activities of the west. The documentary ends with John Pilger quoting Claud Cockburn that, “believe nothing until it has been officially denied”.

            The film has been shot in a very appealing style. The video footages are not very disturbing but they do quiz a common man’s notion about war. However, the interviews seem to be very soft in tone and could have been more ‘dig in deep’ kind of. But, all in all, it is a film that forces the viewer to think of what he is fed in the name of information and what actually happens, as if there is a matrix that creates an illusion called ‘news’.

RATING: 8 out of 10

THUMBS UP: Watch out for the scenes when Bush and Blair are taking a stroll in the park, regardless of the havoc they caused and the clip in which the ex U.S soldier Ethan McCord is running with the injured Iraqi children in his arms.

THUMBS DOWN:  The interviews seem heavily scripted.