Shadow Company

After Fahrenheit 9/11 and "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts" I feared the political documentary genre was forever lost in liberal bias. Shadow Company restores this genre to its rightful place of respectability.

Far too often documentary film makers shape their films to fit their predetermined conclusions and present only the footage that backs up their premise. Shadow Company takes a fair and balanced approach that few filmmakers, or news outlets for that matter, have the courage and integrity to take.

Shadow Company is an extremely insightful, educational, and entertaining look at a remarkable and very controversial event in contemporary politics and modern warfare. Anyone hoping to have a well informed conversation about the war in Iraq needs to see this film. Conservatives and liberals alike will call it one of their favorite films of the year.

I just received my copy in the mail, and to be honest, I was completely surprised by the sheer entertainment value of the film. it's edited remarkably well, written well, and the interview subjects are interesting, and entertaining. Graphics and text inserted during conversation explain technical phrases or give statistics that you'd ask for naturally, so there's no drop off in wishing things were explained more. It's quite neat.

The documentary is very objective, taking no side in the issue. It goes back quite a ways in the contemporary history of the Mercenary/Contractor world, while still being relevant to today's world.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in Foreign Policy, or Military oriented subjects.

-Chris

Being a non-military globally conscientious girl (who oft would even name herself a pacifist), I would have to say that this documentary was one of the biggest eye openers for me in the last few years. All the stereotypes, even the limited ones I had, were explored, dissected and supported, contested and investigated in the way you expect an objective documentary to be. The voices, both supportive and opposing, both disturbing and considerate, historical and modern... all were incontestably honest and articulated in an engaging way. The format of the documentary is one the defies convention - I hesitated to use Terrentino's name because only the unexpected dynamics of the format can be compared to him: things are presented in a way that you don't expect and you are left with questions to ponder yourself rather than a bunch of answers that settle the issue for you. This is a documentary that empowers the audience and for some people this is an unexpected and thrilling OR scary concept.

I was asked to travel to Sierra Leone to do still photography for this project but other than that, I had no involvement of the story building process. I am amazed to see how each of the people they interviewed, and the facts they accumulated, have been presented in the final product in a way that is engaging and informative. No wonder Edward Zwyck was a fan of this doc - it's a rare example of what the documentary format can be used for.

I saw this documentary thinking that it would be biased one way or the other. I was pleasantly surprised to see it be neither a Michael Moore hack job or a Fox News fluff piece.

For the most part it lets present and former mercenaries talk for themselves. The "experts" that are interviewed are not trying to comment on the subject but rather to explain it. Very refreshing indeed. In todays world of highly polarized politics it was great to see a film on this subject, which is for the most part about Iraq, be so even handed.

The extras on the DVD are also well worth a look through. It's well worth the purchase.

From the description, I expected Shadow Company to be a condemnation of privately run military companies, however the actual film turned out to be very well balanced and well put together.

The film grabs varying viewpoints, from the soldiers in the field, to the executives that hire them, to ethics experts and more. The film looked at the issue from historical, financial, ethical, and effective standpoints.

The film added liveliness and interest through clever use of overlays and cut-away scenes. It managed to add elements of humor from time to time that helped the film feel much less dry than other documentaries.

The best part about the documentary is that it did not attempt to sell me a particular viewpoint. It left me still pondering everything that I had seen on the screen, and attempting to decide what I really felt about the issue.

In total, one of the finer documentaries I have ever seen.