'Gunner Palace' is the informal name given to one of Uday Hussein's elaborate pleasure-domes in a suburb of Baghdad... now that it's been bombed and taken over by the US Army. This documentary chronicles the inhabitants of the Palace over the course of several months - ordinary American servicemen, their commanding officers, and their Iraqi helpers. It's a terrific premise, but the subject-matter is so vast and complex it requires top-notch talent to do it full justice - a task which eludes this particular directorial duo.

They have, to be fair, assembled a nimbly-edited, entertaining, often sobering chronicle of a story which emphatically deserves big-screen exposure. Their big mistake, however, is to include so much material shot outside the amazing Palace itself. An excessive amount of the film takes place on the trouble-torn Baghdad streets, yielding footage familiar from countless TV news reports. But the Palace material is really something else: the Americans strive to maintain what they regard as "normality" within its confines, treating what remains of its opulent facilities as some kind of bizarre holiday camp. The most remarkable sequence (justifying the price of admission on its own) sees the soldiers partying as if they're taking part in one of those MTV 'spring break' broadcasts from a sun-drenched Mexican or Caribbean resort. Way beyond parody, such moments are like David O Russell's Gulf War I satire Three Kings brought to jawdropping life.

Elswhere, however, Tucker and Epperlein's decisions mean the film ends up asking many more questions than its answers. The subtitling is frustratingly patchy and there are numerous unfortunate omissions: not least footage of Colgan, a soldier befriended by Tucker whose death half-way through the film hits the film-maker very hard. But as we haven't had the chance to get to know Colgan at all, we can't really share in his grief - no matter how much we may sympathise. Tucker's voice-over also leaves something to be desired - dry, whispery and conspiratorial, as if he's obtained this footage from a top-secret source and is imparting earth-shattering observations as a result.

And where is his partner Epperlein during all this? Back home (in Berlin), we have to assume. Though one US servicewoman speaks at length, the film is otherwise notable for its lack of female voices: we don't hear from a single Iraqi woman, for instance (nor do we hear from any Iraqi men other than those working for the Americans.) Seeing the film in August 2005, with the issue of Iraqi women's rights a major topical concern, this marginalisation - no matter how inadvertent - seems all the more striking. And it was interesting to see how Epperlein herself was marginalised (inadvertently, and perhapse because English isn't her first language) at the Edinburgh screening. The pair were introduced to the audience before the screening and Tucker said a few words. Afterwards, as Tucker took audience applause and questions, Epperlein sat silent and unacknowledged.

Neil Young
20th August, 2005

* GUNNER PALACE : [6/10] : USA (US/Ger) 2004 : Michael TUCKER & Petra EPPERLEIN : 85 mins : seen at Cameo cinema (public show) Edinburgh International Film Festival


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