Guy de Fraumeni's Hollywod In The Hamptons

In The Valley of Elah

The absolutely bizarre Iraq war - what brought it about, the war itself, the spinning-out-of-control results of the announced "Victory" and, the perpetrators' resolve to an un-ending commitment, are harrowingly reflected upon in the film In the Valley of Elah. Stepping into the imprints of a murder mystery, it follows the search for answers to the grotesque death of a returned Iraq veteran. His father, magnificently underplayed by Tommy Lee Jones, is a retired army sergeant having served in Vietnam and now hauls gravel in Tennessee. He'd been expecting his son but instead learns that he's gone missing from the New Mexico army base, Fort Rudd. He immediately drives off leaving his wife, Susan Sarandon, in a cloud of questions that follows him to his son's platoon who can't or won't answer his questions. The officers lips are also sealed as are the files of the army investigators.

The truth, a horror, is finally uncovered. Charred remains, only segments, are discovered near the army base. Local law enforcement tosses the case around on jurisdictional grounds where did the crime take place? Jones talks a persistently passed-over detective, Charlize Theron, to help him. A silent blanket of sorrow, however, will frustrate his father's need for knowledge concerning his son's violent death and, perhaps more pointedly, who and what his son was or had become as a result of service in Iraq. He goads Ms. Theron's investigator into action at every turn. In part, it has to do with Jones fear of what else could arise in the grisly and unholy mystery. It's devastating for someone as personally correct as a man who shines his shoes daily and says grace before meals. Since he's a Vietnam veteran, the ghastly reverberations of his war remind him it is possible that his buddies might be responsible for his son's dismemberment and burning.

The action in Iraq flickers to life (and death) when Jones steals his son's camera phone from the base. He takes it to a local hacker who decodes the picture files of the son's missions in action. Jones examines every unsteady grainy and scratchy video with studious detail for clues to the murder. It is also telling as to how the battle zones tear up individuals. Collectively, they are all decimated mentally in some way. In the Valley of Elah is driven steadily and surely by the heavy gravity of moral and physical erosion and this is what becomes etched in Tommy Lee Jones's wounded face. His deep creases are filled with emotions building internally into an extremely powerful arsenal of emotion.

The title In the Valley of Elah is the location of the story of David and Goliath and refers to the United States as the giant humbled by a seemingly little squirt that would throw itself into our cuddly armored arms. It was written and directed by Paul Haggis (the Oscar winning Crash) with co-scripter Mark Boal as suggested by the real-life murder of Iraq veteran Richard R. Davis four years ago and it rings with true crime grit. It manages, handily, to override the sticky biblical metaphor. It glides over any holiness and thick politics with Mr. Jones' soaring performance. Some of his inner anguish is relayed by Ms. Sarandon, he's been trying to protect her as he covers his own panic being mutely projected to the audience as it builds its suspense higher and higher. As it does so, you imagine there can be no ultimate revelation since the awfulness is so huge and all encompassing. It is too immense to put a pointed finger on. As a professional auteur, Mr. Haggis gives his sensitive cinematographer, Roger Deakins, an open stage to create atmosphere, moods and presentments with his equipment. He gives the film a bleak, pale and sternly harsh environment for the simmering suspense to grow in. A minimal amount of ethereal music also suspends the mounting disclosures.

As I've indicated, there is no finger pointing. The film's purpose is an attempt to sort out the various subjective meanings for a diverse audience. My own bias is set apart by the Valley of Elah's abstract take on a war movie. Combat is not its focus. Instead, we are bathed in the baffling quandary it presents, heavily leaving us with great love and affection for the men and women veterans returned to a home darkened by a blinding question mark.

Guy-Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award-winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at Major Film and TV award competitions including the Oscars, the Emmy's and various film festivals. Sarah Halsey assists him.

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