US military tries to influence Hollywood’s take on war

Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 07:47 AM GMT [General]

US Army Lt. Col. J. Todd Breasseale used to be stationed in Iraq. Now he wages his battle from the confines of a Los Angeles office.

His frontline? The studios and film sets of Hollywood.

Breasseale is part of a Pentagon offensive to help shape Tinseltown's take on war and the armed forces, a stance often seen by the military as relentlessly negative, one-sided and ill-informed.

Take the recent slew of conflict-inspired films such as Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs, In the Valley of Elah by Paul Haggis, and Brian de Palma's Redacted (in which US soldiers rape and murder a teenage Iraqi girl).

Breasseale believes most "have either been a polemic of some sort or heavy handed and preachy", some even "patently offensive".

And he thinks many were guilty of re-hashing tropes from Vietnam-themed films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Born on the 4th of July, Full Metal Jacket and Casualties of War, such as the deranged post-combat soldier.

"And that, quite frankly, is terrifically lazy filmmaking," Breasseale says.

"I'm not interested in keeping alive that myth of the ‘crazy Nam vet‘, which is a Hollywood construct from the later 80s/early 90s. And movies that paint with massively broad brushstrokes are not something I think is fair either to the film's subjects or the American public."

Breasseale's is the man filmmakers send their scripts to when seeking military inut on projects about combat and war (here‘s his IMDB page ).

"My mission is to educate the American public about its Army," he says. Part of that is "myth-busting" and considerations as to how a film might affect "recruiting and retention". So criteria must be met before he'll commit to lending expertise in the form of script advice or access to military land.

"I really just look for plausibility and honesty," he says. "I work with the director to establish plausible - these days, all you can hope for is plausible - plausible and accurate portrayals of the Army."

Breasseale says most filmmakers do respond to the military's suggestions, although if they don't, the partnership tends to fail.

Not surprisingly he did not work on any of the recent Iraq-themed releases. Only one of the filmmakers approached him, Paul Haggis, the Oscar-winner, who contacted him for help with The Valley of Elah.

But, Breasseale says: "We really could not come to an agreement on the script because, you know, let's be frank, his movie dealt with a lot of cover up and conspiracy that just on a day-to-day practical level could simply never happen."

Haggis tells the Los Angeles Times the Army's numerous objections to the script convinced him the military was more interested in good PR than truth. "They are trying to put the best spin on what they are doing," he told the paper. "Of course they want to publicise what is good. But it doesn't mean that it is true."

He added: "I am not there to do publicity for the Army. I am there to do a movie that I see as true."

But Breasseale says his main concern is accuracy and "showing the full picture" not white-washing.

"There's a myth out there we only support films that positively represent the military and that's just not true. We've done pictures and documentaries in the past which very fairly, historically accurately portray the Army's role in a given incident."

Examples of films he considers true portrayals of combat include Black Hawk Down which "absolutely nailed it." He's also "really excited" about a forthcoming release he advised on, The Lucky Ones, starring Tim Robbins (a vocal anti-war campaigner ) and Rachel McAdams, about three veterans returning to America. Breasseale says the film, the "only overtly war specific movie my office has been involved in" recently, is far more "nuanced and fully realised" than many of "the contemporary things I'm seeing about the war today."

Long aware of the entertainment industry's power to influence public perception, the US military has been liaising with Hollywood since the 1920s, working on productions such as Wings in 1927, Patton in 1970 and The Green Berets,in 1968 starring John Wayne.

Breasseale is hopeful he can help inform the work of today's writers, directors and producers and "broaden America's perspective of its Army".

"I just want to try to represent the Army truthfully and accurately and hopefully, in the long run, people will have a greater understanding of America's Army and maybe a little bit more understanding of its soldiers."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/catherine_ ... ake_on_war