Review of Restrepo (2010) by Clayton W — 26 Feb 2011

Restrepo is a stunning, intense documentary that plunges viewers right into the action in one of the most dangerous locations in Afghanistan. The shaky-cam cinematography and the varied sources of footage (including plenty of low-quality footage taken from phones and other devices) give the film an intimacy that makes the action sequences that much more jarringly effective. Even if you don't get all the soldiers' names down by the film's end, you end up feeling like you're one of them, sharing in their pain, their celebration, and their rare moments of carefree fun.

The film does a great job of integrating interview footage taken at a later date with the actual footage from Afghanistan, but it fails to use this editing to create a truly cohesive narrative. Instead, we're treated to a sort of "highlights" reel, were highlights not connotatively good things. The film doesn't suffer because of this structural decision, but it could have perhaps been even more impacting had a more obvious narrative been put in place. As it is, Restrepo is still a deeply moving, eye-opening look at what modern-day heroes look like.