Green Zone (The Film)

I enjoyed reading the book and watching the movie. I found the movie more interesting because it focused on only one main problem in Iraq and what a soldier had to go through to discover the truth. The thing that was interesting was that the movie was much different than the book. The only thing that the book and the movie had in common was when the book had a small chapter in which it talked about the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), which was the main focus of the movie. The film started with an extreme long shot, to show a big explosion in Baghdad. Then the movie skips to 4 weeks later when Chief Miller, played by Matt Damon and other soldiers of his team are looking for the WMD. They encounter a sniper, and I noticed that the music that was being played in the background was tense because it was a matter of life and death. Something that took my attention was the close-up when Miller was talking to Martin Brown, a CIA agent. They were talking about confidential information, so the close-up made the conversation seem very important. The scene dissolved into darkness and then the camera showed Miller and his team in their Humvees going to help General Al Rawi. He was one of Saddam’s Generals. When Miller is going to meet General Al Rawi there is a dolly shot. It follows Miller as he walks in the darkness following one of Al Rawi’s people. When General Al Rawi gives his men the order to kill Miller, there is a low-angle shot to show the power of Al Rawi, and there also is a high-angle shot to show that Miller is powerless. After Miller escapes he is following Al Rawi. This is a birds-eye shot because the action is recorded from the helicopters that are there to help Miller. I would recommend this movie to anybody that is into action movies because there is a ton of action. This was a very interesting movie, because there was a lot of scenes in which I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

Green Zone (The Movie Review)

Scott, A. O. "Movie Review - Green Zone - A Search for That Casualty, Truth - NYTimes.com." Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies - New York Times - The New York Times. 12 Mar. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/movies/12green.html.

Scott said that “…While the picture they paint of infighting among the Americans and growing factionalism among the Iraqis may not be literally accurate in every particular, it has the rough authority of novelistic truth.”

I agree with Scott because this movie is fiction, but it has the feeling of a documentary. It gives the people that are watching a lot of information about the war and how the soldiers live. It gives a feeling of what life is like in Iraq. You will not only just be watching a  movie if you watch “Green Zone”, but you will be watching a documentary.

“My own response to “Green Zone” is almost exactly the opposite: it’s about time.”

Scott is saying that a lot of people might think that the movie came out a little too late, but according to him it was the right time. It was about time that somebody started to show what was really going on in Iraq.  If you want to understand how and why things went like they did in Iraq, then I would suggest you watch this movie.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone (208-292)

Summary:

 Faez Ghani Aziz, the director-general of the State Company for Vegetable Oils was killed by eight gunmen. People believed that the reason why he was killed was because he refused to rehire the employees that he had laid off. By the spring of 2004 the securities law was ready. Bremer signed it on April 19^th. This was the beginning of a new Iraq, but there was still a lot to be done. For example, people didn’t stop on red lights; they would drive on the wrong side of the road, and could go as fast as they could. To protect the Green Zone shut down the expressways connecting the northern and western Baghdad with the city center. Even though the traffic police had returned, they were corrupt. People could give them money so they would summon them to appear in court. By early 2004, leaders of the CIA had gone to the conclusion that Iraq didn’t have WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction). After everything that the Americans did for Iraq, Iraq was now ready to control itself again. Bremer had done it. Iraq was now a country which controlled what it did, and was not being controlled by Saddam. It was what Iraq had been waiting for a long time.

Quote:

“Everyone applauded. Bremer smiled… Congratulations to the new Iraq.” (Chandrasekaran 298)

Response:

I was happy because all the hard work that the American’s did to help Iraq finally paid off, and now life could be back to normal. I was hoping that the American soldiers would be able to go home because they have left their families behind and I’m sure they miss them a lot. It would have been a happy ending for everyone.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone (83-208)

Summary:

The protestors were taking over. People with AK-47’s carjacked vehicles in busy intersections and a lot of businessman’s were taken hostage until their families paid money for them. The Iraqi police forces wouldn’t go to work because the criminals had AK-47’s and they only had pistols. The White House only sent only one person to take care of all the problems in Iraq, Bernard Kerik. Soldier wanted to take his autograph, and the ones who had cameras wanted to take pictures with him. He didn’t plan in staying in Iraq for more than six months. The first thing that Kerik did was give a couple of interviews saying that things were improving. A lot of people were questioning Kerik’s actions, and that’s why he left.  When Jerry Bremer came back to Baghdad from his meetings in the White House and in the Pentagon he had a plan. The first step was done. It was to form a governing council. The second step was to establish a preparatory committee to determine how a constitution should be written. The third step was the Governing Council’s assumption of more day to day governing tasks. The fourth step was to write a constitution. This was where the plan had stopped. The Iraqi Council members told Bremer that what prevented them from moving forward was the idea that Iraqi’s needed more responsibilities. Iraq couldn’t be governed if Iraqi’s don’t get more responsibilities. Later Bremer realized that his seven step plan was dead. Bremer now had another plan. The first two sections went smoothly but when Bremer got to the formation of the interim government and the complicated method of selecting who could participate in the caucuses, the political chief of the country’s largest Shiite party objected. He said that this would split the people. Bremer decided to call a vote. Twenty people supported the plan and three people opposed it. This is what the Iraqi’s had been waiting for.

Quotes:

“Instead of dwelling on the big picture, Kerik focused on one Iraqi, Ahmed Kadhim Ibrahim.”

Response:

When I read the quote I thought to myself, if Kerik was sent in Iraq to stop the violence, then why is he not focusing on doing so? Also, why was he the only person sent to stop the violence when obviously more people were needed? I’m kind of confused, because I’m not sure if the U.S is trying to help Iraq or have Iraq under their control.

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone (9-83)

Summary:

The book starts off by talking about the changes that happened to the life of the people in Iraq with the arrival of the American soldiers. Some of the Iraqi’s that work for the American’s have to eat in a cafeteria in which pork is served. They are against it, but cannot do anything to change it. The Green Zone is like a city within a city. It was made up of two hundred and fifty-eight rooms. It took one of the soldiers one hours to count them. It was Saddam’s house, but now it served as place for the soldiers to live in. If a soldier wanted to leave the Green Zone, he needed to have a good reason and he had to have other soldiers accompanying him. From inside the walls of the Green Zone, the fighting and the protestors and the troubles in Baghdad seemed a world away.  After the American soldiers destroyed the statue of Saddam in front of the Palestine Hotel, the thieves ran inside and grabbed what they could get. The Iraqi’s went with trucks and began taking furniture, electronics and after two days the building had nothing left but the walls and smoke coming out of it. The Iraqi’s were targeting the Central Bank next, but the ORHA (Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance) couldn’t get the military involved to help them. Jerry Bremer had all the power he could get. Even President Bush had given him a lot of power. Bremer went inside the schools in Iraq, because he wanted to see what could be done to change the schools after the war was over. In fact, change was the main reason that he was there for. The Americans were trying to turn Iraq into a republican country.

Quotes:

He was the viceroy and he was in charge. When one of the exiles interrupted him to say that Iraqis wanted Iraqis in charge, not Americans, he bristled. “You don’t represent the country,” he said.

Response:

I don’t think that Bremer did a wise thing by telling the exiles that things would be done his way, because they didn’t seem very happy and it might lead to more fighting and protests in Iraq. This quote is the prefect quote to show that people need to think about their actions what affect those actions might have on different people.