 Dan Krauss’ horrifying documentary, The Kill Team, represents a public relations nightmare for the American military that is much worse than the Abu Ghraib scandal; it may be the most scathing film treatment of the military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan that I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot. The phenomenon of bored American soldiers murdering civilians for thrills has likely existed for generations, but the practice of trophy hunting human beings, literally posing for photos, dismembering corpses, and creating jewelry out of bones, is hopefully not as pervasive as it’s depicted here—despite the claims of interviewed soldiers who describe their actions with chilling nonchalance. Ostensibly about the criminal charges facing Spc. Adam Winfield, who tried to blow the whistle on the sport killings taking place in Afghanistan in 2009 before he found himself pulling the trigger instead, The Kill Team is at a deeper level about the fundamental function of infantrymen and the potential for evil that lurks in the depths of military machismo. The soldiers argue that they are trained to kill and are surrounded by death, so how can they be blamed for turning it all into a video game, helping each other score “easy kills” and become “made men” by completely fabricating stories about nonexistent threats? To soldiers, the Afghans didn’t register as people, and, as the murders continued, “it was impossible not to surrender to the insanity of all.” Among the many jaw-dropping admissions by these convicted soldiers (none of whom will serve more than a few years in prison), the most troubling for me is: “We’re just the ones that got caught.” |  MSPIFF Wednesday, April 9, 9:30pm Friday, April 14, 5:45pm Director: Dan Krauss Producer: Dan Krauss, Julie Goldman, Deborah Hoffmann, Linda Davis Writers: Kim Mordaunt, Miro Bilbrough Cinematographer: Dan Kraus Editor: Lawrence Lerew Music: Justin Melland Runtime: 79m. Genre: Documentary Countries: USA Premiere: April 26, 2013 – San Francisco International Film Festival US Distributor: Oscilliscope Pictures |
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