Amir Bar-Lev's The Tillman Story is an eye-opening and steadfastly enraging documentary about promising athlete Pat Tillman, who gave up a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals after 9/11 to serve in the military. Tillman was killed in Afghanistan at the age of 27, but the events leading up to and surrounding his death were subject to major media cover up from all sides.
Five weeks after Tillman’s death, the military announces an addendum to their original story. Pat was still a hero, but they claim they had just discovered that he was killed by a stray bullet in “the fog of war.” The story just unfolds from there, that the military chose to portray the incident this way and knew it was friendly fire all along. Pat’s family begins to question this five-week gap in information, but are given evasive and unsatisfactory answers by the military which serves as the catalyst for their quest.
Tillman's family was given over 3,000 pages of documentation from the military surrounding the event, consisting of interviews with the soldiers Pat served with, reports, statements,etc, that were blacked out or censored in multiple areas. According to the private investigators hired by Dannie Tillman, the military seemingly hoped to drown her in information, that this would just be too much paperwork for any civilian to go through. However, as Dannie Tillman tirelessly rakes through this sea of paperwork, she begins to uncover pieces of the story that just don't match up with what her family has been told, like the fact that the military had burned Pat's uniform and diaries 45 minutes after he was killed.
One possible explanation expressed by the family's private investigator Stan Goff as well as soldiers who served with Tillman was that he was erroneously shot by American soldiers hungry for a fire-fight, out in the open, even after it had been made clear to them that there was no enemy present. The Tillman family laments the fact that their son's death may have been used as a tool of propaganda, and they emerge as heroic muckrakers who fought at all costs to learn the truth. Dannie Tillman asserts that perhaps the military thought her family would keep this quiet, as to not diminish his heroism: “Nobody questions Pat’s heroics” she says. “He was always heroic. What they said happened didn’t happen. They made up a story. So, you have to set the record straight.”
To think that this was a stand alone incident, that the media at large never engages in cover ups or biases seems naïve, especially in light of such a maddening story to serve as an example.
DVD Bonus Features
Very interesting commentary with Amir Bar Lev, discussing their struggle with how to begin the film and the overall structure of the piece, how characters are introduced gradually instead of all at once to aid in its’ slowly unfolding. The film begins with Pat as a living breathing person, and ends with him as a statue. Bar Lev reveals that” I’m Pat Fucking Tillman” was his original and beloved title, these supposedly being Tillman’s last words as he was shot at by friendlies. It was changed at the last minute, and Bar Lev agrees The Tillman Story was a better choice. Apparently all four camera men who shot the footage of the memorial service got together afterward and shared that something was amiss, that there’d be more to this story. The commentary serves as a complement to the film, definitely worth watching.
"The Tillman Story " is on sale February 1, 2011 and is not rated. Documentary. Directed by Amir Bar Lev. Starring Dannie Tillman, Pat Tillman , Patrick Tillman Sr , Stan Goff .
