The Invisible War - film review

For years, America's military has provided a safe haven for rapists. That's the claim made by Kirby Dick's Oscar-nominated documentary, an indie movie so intimate, and thorough, that it's been embraced all over the US, including Sundance (where it won the Audience Award) — and also the Pentagon.

When a soldier reports being raped by a colleague, the commander rather than the police investigates the case. Dick talked to women such as Lt Ariana Klay, pictured, who claimed they were ignored and/or vilified when they reported an assault. They were told rape was an occupational hazard, words that go round and round in your head because they make explicit the fact that comrades, and enemies, are often one and the same thing.

Between these testimonies we hear from glassy-eyed, brazenly under-informed apologists for the system (one in particular, Kaye Whitley, looks and talks like an alien life form).

The Invisible War is as compelling as Silence in the House of God, Alex Gibney’s study of abusive Catholic priests. It’s not about misogyny (a number of the rape victims here are male), it’s about power and accountability. And if fun is in short supply, there’s an abundance of drama.

Of all the films I saw this week, only Dick’s had a pay-off that took me completely by surprise.