He may not have made a good film since 1996’s Mission: Impossible, but given his penchant for visual virtuosity and envelope-pushing, a new Brian DePalma flick is always worth keeping an eye on – and from the sound of it, his latest project more than qualifies.
Redacted – which starts production in April, according to those bods at Production Weekly – aims to be a hard-hitting political drama and (probable) indictment of the actions of US soldiers in Iraq; namely, the real-life conduct of four US soldiers who raped and murdered a 14 year-old Iraqi girl, and also killed three of her family members.
The subject matter may be hotter than a spud that’s fresh out of the microwave, but it’s how De Palma is approaching the movie creatively that’s caught our eye. For it would seem that Redacted will be something of a documentary: rather than hire actors and a camera crew, and bringing his usual visual pizzazz to proceedings, De Palma will construct the movie entirely from existing video material, including trial footage, some of the soldiers’ video blogs and even YouTube clips.
All of which will, of course, mean that this won’t be a feast for the eyes, but it sounds like it could be an engrossing departure, and a heck of a challenge, for the esteemed director. More details as we get 'em.