Review of Restrepo (2010) by Jonathan M — 19 Feb 2011

"Restrepo", unlike many war documentaries, drops the audience straight into the middle of a band of US troops on a mission in Afghanistan. Soon enough the bullets and bombs are flying, and people on both sides die, which was truly enraging to watch. Naturally, I got caught up in the very real drama and found myself shouting at the screen many times, while at others being on the verge of tears. The important aspect "Restrepo" lacks, however, is context. I suspect this is a deliberate choice made by the filmmakers, as questions like "Why did the US send them there?" and "How does this play into a better life for Afghanis and Americans?" wind up causing political debates. It seems the filmmakers aimed to make this documentary pure, in that it would only be about the troops. But, of course, the story never starts with troops abruptly in a war zone forced to make tough decisions, and every one of these guys would almost certainly be alive if not for the US government duping them into supposedly fighting for their country.

Without an examination of the "why" behind these deaths, the film easily devolves into a "Go USA" troops-admiration marathon. The film is, after all, almost entirely focused on the US troops working on their mission - but not their reasoning behind it - while an un-filmed enemy fires at them, and a rarely-shown civilian population is caught in the middle. Sure, the filmmakers do show some damage done to the Afghani people - at one point five civilians are killed and children are injured by the US - but these deaths are not given nearly the attention the deaths of the US troops who took part in creating those civilian casualties do.

There's something to be said for leaving judgment up to the audience, but when it comes to an issue like this - one that is repeatedly simplified into an "us vs. them" gunfight by the government and the media - context and examination is essential.