Review of Restrepo (2010) by Jordan V — 15 Jan 2011

"I've been on about four or five different types of sleeping pills and none of them have helped, that's how bad the nightmares are. I'd prefer to just not sleep and not dream about it than sleep and see the picture in my head, it's... pretty bad.".

From the award-winning photojournalist Tim Hetherington, with the aid of director Sebastian Junger, this sobering documentary offers a look into the lives of US Army soldiers serving in 2nd Platoon, Battle Company from the 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, closely following their actions throughout a 15-month deployment to the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, which is considered the most dangerous place on earth for US soldiers. During the first two months of their tour, two soldiers from the platoon were killed in battle during the multiple, daily firefights in which they were often ambushed by enemy personnel. The death of the second soldier, PFC. Juan Restrepo, compelled his surviving comrades to push aggressively into enemy controlled territory and establish a remote outpost, giving US soldiers a foothold deeper into the valley than ever before and forcing the Taliban to change the dynamic of their attacks. The men of 2nd Platoon, Battle Company, imparted this new outpost with the designation O.P. "Restrepo", to honor their dead friend.

I cannot express how well edited and streamlined the footage and spoken accounts of the soldiers are integrated into the narrative to present us with a smooth progression and stark portrayal of the danger these men had to face, each day of their deployment. There's a weighing sense of dread and stress throughout the entire film, as we see the soldiers investigating suspected enemy hideouts and interviewing informants within the valley's many villages. The basic knowledge that the soldiers were generally attacked multiple times, each day, with direct enemy fire, puts a constant pressure on the viewer, knowing that nowhere is really safe for these men. The geography of the Korengal valley itself seems strangely malevolent, with tall mountains looming over the soldiers as they patrol. The lack of any soundtrack or overlaying spoken narrative, apart from the after-action interviews with the soldiers, also gives us an awkward feeling of realism which is both sobering and uncomfortable. It all creates a certain dramatic tension that any fictional dramatization would have a difficult time attempting to match. The few times that Hetherington was actually caught in the middle of a firefight are also terrifying, as the looming tension finally gives way and explodes in your face. In true photojournalistic style, Hetherington has managed to capture some incredible footage of the soldiers exchanging fire with the enemy, and in a way that I can only describe as award-worthy. One shot zooms in on a soldier's feet as he fires his weapon at the enemy, an ejected shell casing lands in his shoe and he hastily shakes the shoe off to prevent his foot from being burned and we can see that he is wearing no socks, showing how suddenly their position had been attacked. Another shot focuses on a soldier firing his rifle, as he does this an ejected shell casing flies out and hits the camera lens; something about that shot was incredibly confounding for some reason. Those two shots stuck inside my mind like a sign that read; This is all real.

In the end, Restrepo is the most realistic, stark, polilically mute and unapologetic presentations of the war in Afghanistan. Even though it attempts to crunch 15 months of deployment into a film that's just a little more than two hours long and focuses its story on just one platoon of soldiers, it serves as an incredible testament to all US soldiers who sacrifice so much and endure psychological trauma and stress conditions so severe that we civilians can barely conceive the strength and courage it takes to face and survive. Recommendable to anyone who is looking for an accurate portrayal of modern warfare.