For Reel

Lioness: DVD Review

Director(s): Meg McLagan & Daria Sommers

*** This is a special extended DVD review written for killerfilm.com.

The Film:

Written US policies currently ban women from participating in direct ground combat. It’s a pesky rule, indeed, as women are highly valued in situations such as searching Iraqi women during armed raids. And so, despite the written policy, military commanders in Iraq have been using women as essential parts of their operations since 2003. Dubbed Lionesses, the women involved in these secretive missions all arrived in Iraq as mechanics and engineers, only to return home as scarred combat veterans.

Many political documentaries tend to force-feed their agenda, but filmmakers Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers are wise in focusing almost exclusively on their subjects. Through some added context provided by the occasional clip of an expert or analyst, McLagan and Sommers make their thesis clear: if women are to participate in these combat situations, they should receive proper training and be acknowledged for their contributions to the war effort. Once we’re given that to think about, the filmmakers simply observe five women after a tour as Lionesses in Iraq.

The first half of the film covers the war effort itself. The women discuss their shameful lack of training – on missions with the marines, for instance, they were often confused due to the language barrier between their own and the marine dialect. After making their way back home, the filmmakers pay close attention to the effect of these unrecognized efforts on the women’s psyche and on their individual family lives.

The film’s favorite subject is Shannon Morgan, a blonde of threatening build but delicate features. After a lifetime of hunting squirrels in her hometown in Arkansas, Shannon was recruited by Team Lioness for her tremendous marksmanship despite originally being enlisted as a mechanic. After returning home from the tour, she was so disturbed that she would often go several nights at a time without sleeping.

“Lioness” is extraordinarily intimate – a film with a political agenda clear and concise but not overbearing. McLagan and Sommers are completely omniscient observers, completely unpretentious guides that don’t oversell their agenda. Because “Lioness” is so deeply personal, it’s an enormously successful depiction of Iraq – one of the best of the Iraq war documentaries i’ve seen, in fact.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: The video quality leaves quite a bit to be desired. Presented in 1.78:1, the DVD is window-boxed on widescreen television sets and has significant pixelation throughout. The audio track, on the other hand, is well-balanced and clean. It’s certainly watchable, but not quite the quality that you might expect in 2009.

Supplements:

Bonus Footage: The bonus footage is a pleasant surprise in that it’s fully-edited and in good quality – it isn’t simply the film’s table scraps. There are some interesting vignettes here, particularly a scene in which the filmmakers use archival footage to illustrate the history of women in ground combat. Like the film itself, this is top-notch documentary filmmaking and an excellent addition to the disc (36 min).

Theatrical Trailer: The disc features the film’s theatrical trailer (3 min).

Filmmaker Bios: Text biographies about directors Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers.

About Docurama: A one-page text summary of the intentions of Docurama Films – distributing award-winning documentary films both new and classic.

Conclusion: “Lioness” was a pleasant surprise – a terribly overlooked gem that gives the rare unbiased and highly personal look at soldiers in Iraq. The filmmakers are never intrusive, and experts only chime in on occasion to add the much needed context. It’s certainly the most intimate, and also one of the best Iraq documentaries i’ve seen. High recommendation.

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