Washington, D.C. (September 3, 2007) -- Redacted, director Brian De Palma's new film about the rape of an Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers, has reportedly left viewers at the Venice Film Festival stunned and some in tears.

That's according to an article by Reuters.

The movie will air in High-Definition on HDNet Movies two days before its theatrical release, which HDNet president and co-founder Mark Cuban says will be "sometime this winter." (Cuban's Magnolia Pictures produced the movie which is why HDNet viewers will get the first peek.)

Some movie web sites are reporting that Redacted could be released in a few cities in December and then open across the country in January. This is often done to ensure that a late release is eligible for that year's Oscar nominations.

When it is released, the movie, which was shot on HD video, is sure to generate enormous controversy in the U.S. The film is based on the real-life rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by four American soldiers, three of whom have been convicted by military tribunals.


Director Brian De Palma.

De Palma is known for using shocking images to illustrate a point and Reuters reports that some viewers at the Venice Film Festival were deeply disturbed by what they saw.

The 66-year-old director, who's no stranger to controversy having helmed such violent films as Dressed to Kill, Carrie and Casualties of War, says the movie is aimed at stopping the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people," De Palma said after last week's screening at the Venice Film Festival, according to Reuters. "The pictures are what will stop the war. One only hopes that these images will get the public incensed enough to motivate their Congressmen to vote against this war."

The rape of a young girl by military personnel during combat is not new territory for De Palma who used the same premise for Casualties of War which starred Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox as U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. (Redacted features a cast of unknown actors.)

But he says this film is different because he contends that Americans are being shielded from the horrors that the war is bringing to Iraqi civilians.

"In Vietnam, when we saw the images and the sorrow of the people we were traumatizing and killing, we saw the soldiers wounded and brought back in body bags. We see none of that in this war," De Palma said, Reuters reports.

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