by Larry Richman
March 16, 2008 3:15 PM

When Body of War premiered in Toronto, it reportedly received the longest standing ovation in the festival's history. I wasn't able to see it at the time, and I missed it in Santa Barbara as well. Just in the past few months it's become one of the most acclaimed documentaries in years. So I jumped at the chance to see it here at the 2008 SXSW Film Festival.

Co-produced by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, Body of War is about one man's struggle to survive after returning home from Iraq. It takes the news headlines and puts flesh on them. The consequences of a simple Congressional vote have come home to roost in people like 25-year-old Tomas Young, who is now a paraplegic and a physical embodiment of all that is wrong with our government's actions over the past five years.

The cost of war is always reported in terms of numbers -- dollar amounts, casualties, refugees. What isn't reported on the evening news are the individual stories, the tragedies that result in broken lives and broken hearts. Tomas' story is representative of the untold thousands -- hundreds of thousands -- of young men and women coming home from Iraq with life-altering injuries. No, our presence in Iraq isn't just about numbers, and Body of War brings it home, literally.

It's obvious that a mind-boggling amount of work went into this project. The film's narrative runs along two parallel tracks. On one, we see the Senate vote taking place which originally authorized the war funding. We see legislators take to the floor with equally impassioned pleas on both sides of the debate. Meanwhile, the film cuts back and forth to Tomas' day to day existence, unflinching, from getting out of bed and dressing in the morning to a graphic demonstration of how to put on a catheter. Nothing is held back.

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder contributed original music to the soundtrack and, as Peter, Paul, and Mary did a generation ago during the Vietnam War, and countless others in wars before that, the songs of protest only serve to underscore the folly that is the Iraq war.

As Grapes of Wrath exposed America to transgressions against human lives generations ago, Body of War is a bold statement which will stand the test of time as a profound achievement in telling the truth about the consequences of America's presence in Iraq. The film is a masterpiece and one of the most powerful documentaries I've ever seen. A warning: this film will bring tears to your eyes over and over and over again. It will move you emotionally and, perhaps, politically. Very few films are truly worthy of the word "important." This is one of them.