Badland (2007)

Badland: Directed by Francesco Lucente. With Jamie Draven, Grace Fulton, Vinessa Shaw, Joe Morton. An American soldier is unable to cope with the realities of daily life after he returns from his tour of duty in Iraq.

“This powerful film has stayed with me for weeks, with its searing pain and wrecked, unforgettable beauty. As powerful as any war (or anti-war) story can be, it shows interior battle-fields. Memory is piled on memory – all mute – with tragic lack of healing, until desperation invades the soul and runs lives into heartbreak and ruin. The terrific cast is so deeply affecting because of the radiance within the main characters. The little girl is a wonder! Jerry and Max have a relationship which says more about current war than any overtly political statement.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlthough the film is a long tour-de-force of emotion and drama, the bleakness of the circumstances is uplifted by a beautiful, dead-on score. Moments like long gazes at gorgeous skies, or exquisite background vocalises, drive home what could have been, and lift the film into an epic realm.”