The Invisible War
is one of the most horrifying films I’ve seen in years. It’s a film that aims
to document the longstanding epidemic of rape in the American military system,
which it does, with equal parts candor, rage, dread, and indecision. Like the
best of Kirby Dick’s films, The Invisible
War tells its story from just one side. I imagine that Dick goes at great
lengths to hear from the other side of the issues he exposes, but I presume in
this case, that other side prefers to publicly remain hidden.
To be honest, I could attempt to rehash a handful of the
circumstances in which these victims were violated, but that’s a place I simply
don’t want to go. In my head or in print. I’ll let the women do the talking.
As a commenter on this site recently mentioned, it’s not
about what I saw, it’s about what I felt. Going solely off that criterion, The Invisible War is one of the more
effecting documentaries I’ve seen recently, and we’ve certainly been given our
fair share these last couple of years. The movie isn’t easy to stomach, and its
complete lack of resolution (because how can I person who has been raped ever
fully live a “resolved” life?) will undoubtedly leave many as frustrated as I
was, but at its core, The Invisible War
seeks to expose.
More on that in a bit, but first a minor qualm.
If you’ve made it this far in the review, I think my sympathy
for the victims in this film is obvious. With that noted, there are simply too
many subjects here. I didn’t keep an accurate count of all the victims, but upwards
of two dozen people appear in the film, many of who were given only a few
sentences of screen time. I understand that by hearing more stories, the point
is further driven home, but it’s just too much, at least for an hour and 40
minute long film.
 |
| Kori Cioca |
In terms of faults, that’s all I’ve got. Really, it is
goddamn hard to not appreciate a film like this, for a multitude of reasons. Here’s
one: Kori Cioca was serving in the US Coast Guard when she was raped by her
commanding officer. The film spends a great deal of time with her, mostly
chronicling her inability to have the Department of Veterans Affairs cover her
(many and ongoing) medical expenses since her attack. Directly before she was
raped, Cioca’s attacker slapped her in the face, which has resulted in
permanent facial nerve damage. In a cinematic world of ridiculous and wildly inaccurate
fighting sequences, it’s impossible to not appreciate the fact that The Invisible War shows how just one
slap can completely and utterly ruin a life.
It’s that level of attention to detail that makes this film
so commendable. Kirby Dick is responsible for many exceptional documentaries.
From the desperation of the subjects seeking sex surrogates in Private Practices to the MPAA exposé This Film is Not Yet Rated to the
closeted gay politicians of Outrage
to the pedophiliac priest of Twist of
Faith, Dick is a guy always looking to cause a stir. After seeing The Invisible War, Secretary of Defense
Leon Panetta ordered that all military sexual assault cases are to be handled
by people who rank colonel and higher. That’s a small but worthy step toward
justice. An undoubted Oscar nomination for the film would be the same. A-
This is going to be a hard one to stomach, but I want to see it. Are there any other good docs coming out that should be on the radar?
ReplyDeleteYeah this one is a tough ride, but definitely worth it.
DeleteOther docs this year? Hmmm.
I'm really excited for The Other Dream Team, as well as West of Memphis, The House I Live In, and Liv & Ingmar, to name a few. But we've had some stellar ones this year so far already, so... tough category come Oscar season.
Of the stuff I watched at festivals this year, I'd say Mea Maxima Culpa (another hard one to stomach), The Gatekeepers (my favourite doc of the year so far) and The Central Park Five are highlights.
DeleteNice. The Gatekeepers sounds really interesting. Really curious for that one (and the other two you listed).
DeleteWhy, thank you for citing one of my comments! Been able to catch How to Survive a Plague, by any chance? It's playing here in Boston, but it would be a drive to get to... heard some great things about but i'm on the fence.
ReplyDeleteHey man no problem. That was a very profound thing that you said, so I am happy to cite it!
DeleteHow to Survive a Plague is, I believe, the victim of a far too gung-ho trailer. The kind of doc that, based on the preview, does not look like something I'd want to see, but based on snippets of reviews, seems to be nothing short of fantastic. I think an Oscar nomination is for certain, so... maybe the drive will be worth it?
Wonderful review. This sounds like a tough watch, indeed. I do want to see it at some point though. I need to check out more documentaries.
ReplyDeleteYeah man, this one is tough to take, but definitely worth it. I often find that at least one doc makes it into my top 10 of the year, so, yeah, love me some docs!
DeleteI don't watch many documentaries, but it isn't because I don't appreciate and enjoy them. I just have limited time for movie viewing these days, and I primarily gravitate toward fiction.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think this would be painful and infuriating to watch but undoubtedly worthwhile. But damn, my blood pressure is up from just reading your review, which spares us most of the details. I'm guessing that some men use this issue as an argument why "women don't belong in the military," rather than blaming the perpetrators. In fact, after having listened to so much bullshit over the years, I'd bet on it. :-(
Excellent review, Alex!
I know exactly what you mean about having films like this really rile you up. But that is definitely one of the reasons I love a good documentary - they can achieve a level of real human drama that many narrative films cannot.
DeleteThere is a bit of the "women don't belong in the military" thing here, but that is from the mouths of the female victims themselves. As in, that's what they were told by the men who raped them.
Tough film, but an important one.
"Tough film, but an important one."
DeleteJust finished watching it, and I couldn't agree more.
Nice man, thanks for coming back and letting me know you dug it!
DeleteTake a large number of young men, many of them with low educational backgrounds, add intense physical training, weapons, and alcohol, and the abominable results that this film highlights are as predictable as a simple statistical exercise.
ReplyDeleteWar films don't phase me. Even "realistic" scenes like those in something like Saving Private Ryan don't do it. Once you've seen actual footage of the horrors that people can commit unto each other during war (or been unfortunate enough to bear witness in person, so I'd imagine), almost nothing is visually shocking. But on occasion, I learn of things that are so far beyond the pale, that I am so mentally shocked... my soul weeps. The Invisible War brought me there.
For me, and thankfully many many many people, there are some acts that are so hard to comprehend that they may as well be impossible. I can barely understand wanting to hit someone, and the desire to sexually assault someone is on par with trying to levitate - they are antithetical to the universe as I know it.
Of course, that the rapes are happening is only half of the evil. The other half is caused, at its core, by the existence of the UCMJ. I have no legal background, but no one will ever convince me that it makes sense for there to be a separate legal system for people of one selected profession (i.e. military personnel). Maybe for a very small set of offenses that do not exist for everyone else (insubordination, say), but beyond that, I can't wrap my brain around the concept. But that's how it is, and the structure of it all means that the victims are brutalized legally after surviving the physical.
Two evils.
I'll hypothesize that a parallel documentary could be made highlighting civilian victims near military bases. I imagine it happens in the US regularly.
I don't have to hypothesize that a parallel documentary could be made highlighting civilian victims near US forward bases around the world. Those are incidents that I have read about extensively, and are well documented. Look into the USMC's actions in Okinawa, over several decades, for but one soul crushing example.
I don't care if this film wins awards. I doubt the victims do either, unless it helps to bring about the one thing they actually need - effective change.
Alex, thank you for including this in your year end roundup. I might have missed it otherwise.
I agree with everything you said here, my friend. I too have consistently found the existence of the UCMJ quite baffling. The rapes are one thing (one horrible thing) but the military inaction is quite another. Two evils indeed, and I find it repulsive throughout.
DeleteYour parallel documentary sounds like a great one. I've heard of that stuff going on as well, and it'd be a worthy fight to attempt to expose some of it. I'm getting all riled up just talking about. This shit seriously irks me.
Our anger is because this is such an absolute indefensible wrong. There is no grey area. There is no counterpoint. It's just wrong, and the problem isn't fixed because some people would end up looking bad. Morally, allowing this to happen and not trying to fix it is on par with having a soldier captured and then not attempting to rescue them. Where is the brave person who will fix this? Brave in this case being, "I don't care what happens to my career, or even the short term effects on the military, but for the good of the everyone in the long term, this problem needs a functional solution."
DeleteIf you have interest in more about US military overreach, in several areas, I recommend a couple books by Chalmers Johnson - Blowback and The Sorrows Of Empire (this one is essential reading). His last two books, Nemesis and Dismantling The Empire aren't as strong, but still fairly interesting.
You're absolutely right: there is no gray area here. It's just goddamn wrong. Wouldn't it be great to have that one brave person?
DeleteGoing to get my hands on The Sorrows Of Empire ASAP.
Oh, and I thought about your one minor complaint as well, the number of victims shown. I think you're wrong on this one.
ReplyDeleteOne victim is followed extensively, from the event to the repercussions, several more enough to tell their story, and myriads more are shown to exist. I think this is the right balance. Without that last group, some people might have a view to dismiss the numbers presented, and think, "Well they only really found seven or eight people, so it's probably not actually that big a problem."
As we kept seeing more and more faces, the impression I received was that the directors could have kept going forever, and easily shown us thousands of examples. For me, it was all the more powerful because that minimizing idea was completely quashed.
That's a fair point. And don't get me wrong: the more, the better. The more victims who speak, the harder the point is slammed home, which in this case is a good thing. But a few of these subjects literally got one or two sentences of face time. And while I sympathize with what they've been through, such little time spent on them didn't necessarily make me care about them, or certainly not care as much as I did for a handful of the other subjects. I would've been okay with this film being 15-20 minutes longer, is all.
DeleteOh, okay. I thought you were saying cut them out. If you mean give them each a little more time, I'm completely on board with that.
DeleteOh no no no. DEFINITELY more time. Don't dare cut 'em.
Delete