Kimberly Peirce and actor Ryan Phillippe in Texas shooting ‘Stop-Loss.’ Below: Phillippe and co-star Channing Tatum play soldiers who’ve returned from duty in Iraq.
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By Dustin Fitzharris
Friday, March 28, 2008
Five years of warfare. Four-thousand dead U.S. soldiers. Tens of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians. And more than 80,000 stop-lossed American service members.
Stop-Loss? Nicknamed the “back-door draft,” it’s the involuntary extension of a soldier’s contract. Congress first gave stop-loss authority after the draft ended in 1973, so the president could retain troops during wartime. President George H.W. Bush, during the Gulf War, was the first to use it.
The policy has remained under the radar—until now.
In “Stop-Loss,” Ryan Phillippe stars as Sgt. Brandon King, a small-town boy from Texas who returns home after two tours of duty in Iraq, ready to reclaim his life. Then he receives orders he’s been stop-lossed.
The film’s ruthless—U.S. soldiers invade civilian’s homes, leaving an entire household, including babies, for dead. It’s graphic—combat injuries will make you want to turn away from the screen. And yet it’s sincere—emotional bonds grows out of the bloodshed.
“Stop-Loss” is the first film by Columbia University graduate Kimberley Peirce since her 1999 Academy Award-winning film, “Boys Don’t Cry.”
Throughout the film, Peirce incorporated authentic footage or re-created real images taken by the soldiers in the war. “We are in the YouTube generation,” Peirce said. “It’s the generation where someone picks up a camera and films himself or his friends and puts it on the Internet. Because of that, we needed to make this film now.”
That doesn’t mean the movie’s about war. “I didn’t want to spend the whole movie in combat,” Peirce said. “I wanted to be in combat for as long as you needed to see the sense of patriotism and camaraderie.”
Instead, she focuses on the individuals, who after experiencing so much death and combat, return home.
“I think that anyone who has had a family member who has gone to war has struggled with the changes in their loved one when he or she returns home,” Peirce said.
Her younger brother, Brett, enlisted in the Army after 9/11; in September 2003, he entered the war in Iraq. He was injured and is no longer combat worthy.
“I understood his desire to ‘get the people who had done this,’” Pierce said. “But the idea of my own brother carrying this out was devastating.”
Peirce became increasingly interested in the lives of soldiers after she walked in on Brett, who was home on his first leave, as he was watching images shot and edited by soldiers of life in Iraq cut to rock music.
Inspired by the footage, Peirce began a documentary about the soldiers. Then a text message halted her.
Her brother sent a story about a friend who was all set to return home to his family and then was stop-lossed. Peirce knew that was the story she had to tell.
In August 2007 filming began in Texas, mostly in Lockhart, the self-proclaimed Barbecue Capital of Texas.
Though Peirce is open about her brother’s influence on her filmmaking, she is vague when discussing her own life. Since gaining fame with “Boys Don’t Cry,” rumors have surfaced that Peirce is a lesbian. Only recently has she put her guard down. She’s gay—and settled down (her partner, Evren Savci is a Ph.D. candidate studying gender identity and sexuality).
When comparing her experience with “Boys Don’t Cry,” based on the real-life story of murdered transwoman Brandon Teena, to those with “Stop-Loss,” Peirce remained guarded.
“Both films hit different parts of my life,” she said. “One is gender and sexuality and the other is family. I identified with Brandon, but they both have the theme of masculinity, and gender is very important in both films.”
Ryan Phillippe also views “Stop-Loss” not as a war film but as a look at personal lives. “Although it does say something about the situation we’re in,” Phillippe said, “what’s at the heart of the drama is what happens to these guys when they come back home and can’t cope. It’s about the ramifications of war.”
To prepare for the role and get a sense of the soldiers’ camaraderie, he studied video footage that the service members shot of each other. “You really want to make sure you know how to behave and appear like a solider. I think you’re doing these men a service if you do your best to appear legitimate.”
Co-starring with Phillippe is another Columbia University student Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“3rd Rock From the Sun,” “Mysterious Skin”). Like Peirce, the actor has had a constant swirl of press surrounding his sexuality. He is keeping mum.
Peirce knew she wanted him for the role of Tommy, a man of rage who excels during war, but suffers during peace, from day one. Peirce didn’t have to do too much convincing.
“[The script] was well-written and a page-turner and seemed like an honest and heartfelt statement about what was going on today,” Gordon-Levitt said.
He was also drawn to the film because of his longtime fascination with soldiers—as a kid, he wasn’t allowed to play with G.I. Joes because his parents were peace activists. (Mom and Dad must be thrilled about his next project: “G.I. Joe,” in which he co-stars with “Stop-Loss” hottie Channing Tatum.)
“To play a soldier appealed to me,” Gordon-Levitt said. “I have a lot of respect for what a soldier does, and having gone through this experience, I’ve gained even more.”
Peirce hopes that this sense of patriotism is what audiences walk away with.
“This movie is definitely pro-soldier,” Peirce said. “It may not be pro the stop-loss policy. But we have tried to honor and to show with great compassion and understanding the unique experience of these brave men and women and the effect that war has, not only on them, but on their families, friends and everyone around them.”
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