Barnaby Walter, 29/07/2008
The heated topic of the war in Iraq has now leaked out into the cinemas. Under the surface of topical debate that surrounds this fact, it is more likely than not that film makers are putting these stories on screen not because America has found a side to cheer on. It is because they are still searching for their side between the two extremes: support the war/ oppose the war. "In the Valley of Elah" doesn't endeavour to answer that question, nor does it take a deliberate, clear side in the debate. What it does do is attempt to explain what effect the war has on the young soldiers that are out there in the desert fighting. This is a difficult but well exercised angle on a growing issue, but the film does not set out into making an obvious judgement, but tells the story of one man's investigation into the killing of his son. Tommy Lee Jones's self controlled character Hank has already had to deal with the sudden death of one son in his life. Now he is faced with another emotional upheaval; the death of his second son, Mike. Assisted by a female police officer in New Mexico near his son's military base, Hank comes to learn that his son was murdered, and that his ampuated remains were dumped and then moved. But trying to see the real truth instead of the army's version of events proves confusing. It soon becomes clear, by a small array of (somewhat convenient) evidence, that Iraq made his son a different person. A person that had changed because of what he had seen. Throughout the film, the police procedural elements take up most of the discussion and action, which is a shame as there are so many themes to explore in the subject matter; heroes, villains, sadism, PTSD. All of these do, however, provoke thought. One particular incident filmed on a mobile phone in Iraq, which concerns the treatment of suspected terrorists, is the type of footage that haunts you for weeks to come. In an interview recorded during cinema promotion of this film, the director/writer Paul Haggis said in no uncertain terms that "America is bleeding right now". In the Valley of Elah does show a bleeding and wounded country, but it also shows the wounds war makes in humanity. If we look past the dusty police work we see a society both fighting back and controlling itself at the same time, emotions running mixed and confused. Haggis manages to bring out startling performances from a cast that generally doesn't need any coaxing, but his true success in this distressingly melancholy crime drama is the emotion packed away and stored within Hank, which we see slowly overflow as the movie comes to its climax. Possibly edging too far into the CSI field than it needs to, this is still a excellently made and relevant piece of cinema. Apart from a final part that seems a little confused with itself (as I've said before: heroes, villains, sadism), the plot still stays solid. It seems to be up to the audience to decide on it's overall message, but if watched as a character study of a grieving father desperate to know the truth (and there have been a few those on film) this is up there with the best.
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