A story based on fact, really well depicted. Fundamentally, the film looks at the way humans behave (savagely) when seemingly normal people are put into Highly abnormal situations and the lengths to which humans will go to fit in. If you have a strong stomach for the most demeaning kind of violence portrayed on film then this is a must watch movie. An excellent film, moving and provoking. At the time of writing this review, we had already watched this movie 6 times since it´s release in 2007. Would we watch it again, absolutely.
The Mark of Cain
2007
Action / Drama / War
The Mark of Cain
2007
Action / Drama / War
Plot summary
GULLIVER and TATE - nickname 'Treacle' - are two ordinary 18 year-olds serving in the British Army in Iraq. Their platoon is struggling to maintain the uneasy peace of 2003. When their popular company captain, GODBER, is killed on patrol by a roadside bomb, morale in the platoon hits rock bottom. Acting on orders they round up several suspects from house-to-house searches. That night feelings at the camp are running high and as the chain of command is weakened and events spiral out of control. The lads end their tour of duty and return to England full of stories but also shaken by their experiences. Iraq comes back to haunt them when Gulliver's jilted girlfriend, Shelley, decides to get her own back on him by giving photos of the events in Iraq to the British police. The story hits the press, and Gulliver and Treacle, now the most reviled men in Britain, face court martial. The army claims the two are 'rotten apples' acting alone. Guilt-ridden and abandoned, the pressure is too much for a traumatized Treacle. Gulliver, however, is determined to remain loyal to 'his army'. Only when he is truly alone does he have to decide if he must keep his secrets or explosively have his day in court, and tell the truth about the events of that fateful night.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Pip Torrens as Colonel Hampton
Shaun Dooley as Corporal Gant
Barry Sloane as TA Pvt Glynn
Alistair Petrie as Major Rod Gilchrist
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Must watch.
Reviewed by
The flashback and flash forward structure of the telling removes most of the power of the story
British film about soldiers in the early days of the current Iraq war who get in over their heads when the death of their captain prompts abuse of several detainees. Well made, good looking film that shoots itself in the foot by completely jumbling the time frame of the story. We get scenes that start and then move to another scene before getting too far in, to be replaced by another scene and then another and then back to the first and so on. All of the flash forwards and backs completely kill any real suspense about what happens since the bits we are given more or less reveal what is going to happen. It takes the edge off everything and makes it considerably less then its parts. How can we feel the shock of what happens when you have a good idea at the start. This is just an okay Iraq war film when it should have been one of the better one.
Reviewed by
An evocative modern dilemma
A seemingly accurate portrait of the British Army immiediately post combat, but drawn into the turbulence of post war Iraq, with the start of sectarian fighting, and bombings.
Based on the experiences of two young lads, and their squad, in Basra in 2003, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, and the legacy as they return home.
Many people may find the home scenes just as poignant as the Iraq scenes. An interesting angle on how young people often try to block out negative thinking.
There are many moral issues to be drawn from this film. Recommended.