Customer Reviews

The Mark of Cain

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like this film because it gives you a realistic portrayal of the war in Iraq. It really gave me a better understanding of what its like to live in Iraq and I definitely have more appreciation for everyone that goes abroad to keep me safe!

this story is emotional and gripping. It keeps you on edge at all times and gives you great insight to Britain's role in Iraq, something that not many Americans get to see.

On screen appearance of Gerard Kearns firmly associated with cheeky Ian Gallagher of Shameless signals something sexy to happen.

And this story of liberating Iraq and further enduring a freedom by British troopers is exactly what it is.

A daily routine of survival in a hostile to liberators land is peppered with explicit tortures, sexism and macho dominance towards locals and co-soldiers. If even a group-interrogation scene looks a bit concentrated, similarly to Salo actions, revelations of moral and general behavioral patterns might hardly question the UK movie-makers' personal acquaintance with native homeland environment presented by British cinematography more and more frequently and, perhaps, surprisingly honestly to an outer world.

A suicide in a tube committed by a character played by G. Kearns is really an emphatic moment after actor's body was screened in all his young man beauty.

Good performance, good intentions, good actors.

Wanted to like it,get thru it, but couldn't. I prefer most British films with subtitles cause my hearing isn't the best and here with all the noise of combat on top of the accents I found it impossible to understand what was being said. My rule is--if I can't understand it I let it go and watch something else which is a shame cause the Iraq War from a Great Britian perspective is why I bought this DVD. If your hearing is top notch--great, get this and enjoy. If it isn't like mine, don't purchase this DVD.

A somewhat slow moving at times, but always gripping film depicting the lives of British troops in Basra, Iraq, 2003. There's a statement saying it's fictional, but inspired by real events. I remember at the time that all this was going on that the British media stated that the British troops were conducting a more sensitive operation, winning over "hearts and minds", instead of adopting an apparently more crass approach, like America reportedly was. The truth emerged later, following publication of unpleasant souvenir photos featuring British soldiers and Iraqis, plus video footage showing an incident of British soldiers assaulting Iraqi civilians.

Excellent acting and script; a disturbing, but enlightening film.

Unfortunate that the audio is AWFUL and NO SUBTITLES. I understood very little of what was said, so I just watched the story as if I were mostly deaf. Typical English-speaking Americans will not decipher the words as spoken and anybody else, well, not unless you're from a certain neighborhood in England, good luck! For the story: it's portrayed "without political bias". Sadly though, it might come across as a historical account and basically a smear on the American & British efforts in Iraq. The story of this war effort is easily misconstrued. Today I will attend a service for a young soldier who gave his life in service to America and freedom-loving people. He is a good young man at peace with God today. He gave his life to save the lives of "innocent" Afghan civilians, because what is more important to many in America today is preserving enemy civilian shields instead of preserving American soldiers and their families. As with Japan in '45 we should be using massive bombing to achieve our ends over there but we're not. It's a hard debacle. Mark of Cain could have been better and seems like a first or second effort at film-making. There truly was an effort at non-partisanship and lack of bias.
Where are the movies about the countless atrocities committed by Muslims against countless victims: innocent women and children, Christians, their own people in the name of Islam and the Koran? It's not a religion of peace after all.
However, I highly recommend "Combat Diary: The Marines of Lima Co."

This is an excellent fiction film about torture in Iraq. Shane Gulliver and Mark Tate are stationed in Basra. When their company's captain is killed during a mission, they capture two alleged suspects and are told to use whatever means necessary to extract information (i.e. torture). This film captures the difficult task of maintaining a personal code of ethics inside a powerful organization like the military. With the success of docs like 'Taxi to the Dark Side' and 'Standard Operating Procedure', hopefully this film will continue to spotlight the military's blatant disregard for the standards of the Geneva Convention. The cinematography is haunting and the acting noteworthy, definitely deserving of the BAFTA award it won this year.