A Real War in a Fake Town

No matter your position on the war in Iraq, taking time to watch the documentary film Full Battle Rattle is a must.

"I wanted to see the war with a 360-degree view and this was the only possible way to do it," said producer and director Jesse Moss during the Wilton Library's third film in its documentary film series. 

The documentary, which Moss produced and directed with Tony Gerber, is about a real war in a fake town.  As the film states upon starting, it is the story of one army battalion and its time in what is usually the last stop for soldiers before being deployed to Iraq.

In the Mojave Desert, the government has built a billion dollar urban warfare simulation.  It is a "virtual Iraq" and has been populated with hundreds of actors or role players. 

The film follows the battalion, which spent three weeks living and working in the simulation, side by side with other role players, some of whom are from Iraq and seeking American citizenship.  The film crew also lived there for the month, in 120-degree temperatures, to make the documentary. 

"For us as filmmakers," explained Moss, "it was a way of getting both sides of the war: the American side as well as the Iraqi side."

The simulation goes on just like a real war, complete with simulated injuries and medical treatments. 

"It would have been very hard to show true injuries," said Moss, "but it showed the pathos and suffering of war."

The Army had no editorial say in the film. 

"We went there with very open eyes," said Moss. 

The directors didn't want to take a position on the war, but wanted to get inside of it as much as possible. Moss, who in 2006 didn't know anyone in the war, had heard so much about it from the news that he felt like he needed to further understand it. 

"The interest came from a very personal place."   

Full Battle Rattle can be purchased from www.fullbattlerattlemovie.com or from www.amazon.com.