Bienal de Pontevedra

Isabel Rocamora reflects on the process of dehumanisation suffered by individuals within the military field, deconstructing traditional ideas of heroism, sacrifice and masculinity. The work explores the feelings hidden behind military structures by focusing on how the army normalises violence, which is moved away from its heroic dimension to make it ordinary and banal. Set in the desolate landscapes of Normandy (World War II) and having the testimonies of a British soldier and a Serbian civilian who took part in the Iraq and Balkan wars, respectively, Body of War offers a poetic reflection on the evolution of the human being into a soldier. The film deconstructs the fury of the fight into a choreography of ritualised gestures, a hand-to-hand combat between soldiers, performed by real ex-combatants, executing movements that, when slowed down and repeated, reveal both the intimate relationship and disconnection between the humanity and brutality inherent in war. The images of soldiers in action are accompanied by Arvo Pärt's Kanon Pokajanen, whose choral pieces, based on a Russian Orthodox Church hymn of repentance, emphasise the emotional and spiritual dimension of the war encounter.