Making a Vietnam war film original, engaging, and creditable is a pretty tall order for anybody these days, so it probably wasn't the wisest choice for director Paolo Bertola to tackle that conflict's most infamous atrocity as his debut-feature.

Over 500 innocent villagers -- men, women, and children -- were gunned-down and killed by American soldiers at My Lai in March 1968. As such, it's impossible not to be affected by what we view on screen; but largely this is despite the film's efforts, rather than because of them.

It is, at-best, competently shot, with the shoe-string budget painfully apparent. A war film with weak explosions is always prone to lack in realism; and in scenes like the napalming of a rice-paddy, you can practically visualise the tech-artist adding the flames post-production.

The film is scarcely more convincing in examining causes. We can take at face value the squad were grieving the loss of friends and facing pressures from above, but we never get to know them personally. Things are further diluted by format, because when we see an officer revving them up ("the general command wants high figures of dead Gooks, and by God we will give it to them") we don't know if this is artistic licence. You find yourself pining for a documentary instead; not least because the movie's opening -- still images accompanied by voiceover -- is one of its most affecting parts.

Unfortunately, the script is mostly cliché-ridden and frequently veers into almost-comical caricature: whether it's the incessant scatter-gun swearing of the strictly hick or ghetto soldiers, or the regulation eastern-wisdom of village elders ("Your soul is divided into two, like our country!").

Indeed, it is only when dialogue is largely jettisoned in the final act that the film achieves a degree of  respectability. The sheer barbarity of the whole episode is well captured, as are the acts of defiance by individual soldiers or villagers.

This hardly redeems the film -- never mind your faith in humanity -- but it does at least do greater justice to the victims than the preceding hour ultimately threatened.