Restrepo (2010)

This year’s Restrepo is probably one of the best war-movie documentaries I’ve seen in a long time. In 2007, filmmakers Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger went to Afghanistan to embed with an Airborne platoon for an entire year, and condensed their efforts into a 90 minute masterpiece.

The focus is on an outpost on a former enemy hilltop position in the Korengal valley, which they named Restrepo in honor of their fallen comrade, medic Juan S. Restrepo. What you see is 90 minutes of about every possible emotion you might encounter in such a situation, switching between “on the ground” footage and sit-down interviews.

The fear, grief, anger, and the usual horsing around…. its all laid bare. That’s really what you should take away from this, not the firefights, not the political garbage or the policeman duties, but the emotions. From the grief the men display after they lose another man during a mission, to the anger once the dust settles, the relief when they learn they’re going home….. and of course the confusion and fear during some of the firefights. This is as real as it gets.

It is a bit slow at times, but then again it is a documentary. I guess its unavoidable. You’ll also (if you’re like me) come away with a feeling of anger and despair after watching them deal with the local elders, and that feeling that we should have learned this lesson already….

I’m not sure what else to say. It’s somewhat difficult to write a review on something like this. There aren’t any actors, story, special effects, or script. About the only thing I can say is that Hetherington and Junger have managed to capture the reality of life on the “front lines” (if you can even call it that) in such a way that when its over, you really appreciate what they’re going through, because in a way, you’ve lived just a little bit of it with them.

Here’s the official site: http://restrepothemovie.com/

and a couple of videos to chew on until you’re able to see the real McCoy. I can’t recommend it enough.