Restrepo
Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, teamed with photographer Tim Hetherington and spent a year embedded with the Second Platoon in Afghanistan, chronicling the hard work, fear and brotherhood that come with repelling a deadly enemy. Hunkered down with the soldiers in one of the region's most strategic valleys, the filmmakers uncover the dark humor, sleepless surreality and constant anxiety of war in this Oscar-nominated documentary.
NYT movie review.
"...Hanging out with the members of Battle Company in their hilltop outposts in the Korangal Valley between May 2007 and July 2008, Mr. Junger and Mr. Hetherington recorded firefights, reconnaissance missions, sessions of rowdy horseplay and hours of grinding boredom..."
IMDB page.
Streaming on Netflix. I was startled to the point of being breathless a couple of times when the firefights started, but my PTSD is a cakewalk compared to what some of these kids are dealing with. I wonder if the meds I take might help some of these kids. It doesn't turn me into a zombie, it just pushes the emotions back so that they don't completely overwhelm me, run my life and keep me from sleeping, so it might. As I was watching I had to force myself to stop asking the question that some of the soldiers asked on camera at the beginning: "What the fuck are we doing here?"
The only other Oscar nominated documentary I have seen this year is "Exit Through the Gift Shop" which is about a nutjob who follows Banksy around with a camera. Way different, and frankly, this documentary is better. Way better. As hard as it was to watch, it was worth it.
I just wish I could stop thinking about whether or not the guys who made it out of there in good shape have been sent back in.
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