Movie Review: RESTREPO by Paul Hansen
Movie Review: RESTREPO
 by Paul Hansen
 Friday, August 13th, 2010
 New York, NY
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Restrepois a documentary, which examines the current conflict in Afghanistan from the perspective of a US platoon.   The title of the film is derived from the name of a member of the platoon, PFC Juan S. Restrepo, who was killed in action in 2007.   His brothers-in-arms have named the outpost where they are stationed in his honor.   The camp is located on mountainous cliffs overlooking a valley in eastern Afghanistan known as Korengal Valley.   The area is known as being particularly dangerous because of the large number of Taliban insurgents in the region.  Time Magazine labeled the area “The Valley of Death.” 

 

The film conducts interviews with the soldiers while they are in Afghanistan and in Italy after their deployments are over.   It also follows them on deadly patrol missions. Not to trivialize it, but watching the movements of the platoon is reminiscent of scenes from the Predatorand Aliens films in which much tension is created by not knowing the location of the enemy or its next angle of attack. 

 

The deadly earnest atmosphere of Outpost Restrepo occasionally gives way to silly comedy  reminiscent of  the emotional contours of an episode of M*A*S*H.  The humor is no doubt needed to reduce stress.  The tension is captured early in the film when the cameras record a road-side bomb attack from inside the vehicle being assaulted.

 

The vignettes in the documentary are intelligently chosen to examine the efficacy of the military strategy being pursued in Afghanistan.   At one point an Afghan villager states that he doesn’t want to cooperate with the US out of fear of being killed by the Taliban.   There are several scenes of regular meetings between the American soldiers and village elders which are meant to enhance cooperation and security in the Korengal Valley. (These meetings are called “shuras”).  In an interview, one of the soldiers said that he felt that the shuras were not helpful, employing the “one step forward two steps backward” metaphor. It is clear that the two groups met each other across a very wide cultural divide.

 

The film presents the complexities, ironies and contradictions of the fog of war.    Many of the soldiers are clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and yet one of them said he would not want to erase his horrible memories because they make him grateful for his current life.  By the end of the documentary the men are obviously happy to be going home.  However,  earlier in the film,  one of them states that combat can be exhilarating and he is not sure  he will be able to adjust to the relative calm of civilian life.

 

The soldiers and the film do raise questions (although not aggressively) as to whether US strategy is working in Afghanistan.  If anything, the producers might have been more assertive in asking the soldiers if they thought that their tactics were successful in quelling the rebellion.  Perhaps the soldiers were still in the military at the time of the follow-up interviews which might have prevented them from speaking completely candidly.    

 

Guerilla insurgencies are notoriously difficult to suppress.  Much of the footage in Restrepo resembles news reports from Vietnam in which US soldiers would complain that it was difficult to distinguish between friend and foe as the enemy would simply dissolve into the civilian population.  In watching Restrepo,  a viewer can have the sad impression that this type of conflict has played itself out before to tragic consequences.  Outpost Restrepo was ultimately abandoned as part of a change of strategy to concentrate on the defense of urban centers rather than remote rural outposts.  

 

Restrepowon the grand jury award for best documentary at the recent Sundance Festival.  It will also almost certainly be nominated next year for an Academy Award in the same category - not just because of its intrinsic worth, but as a way for Hollywood to give its support to US troops in combat.

 

A viewer can be left with only a sense of admiration for a group of young men who, on a moment to moment basis, risk their lives to defend American interests under very dangerous circumstances.   The film can also function as a useful catalyst to examine the effectiveness of the tactics being used to bring stability to Afghanistan. 


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Last updated by Paul Hansen - Friday, August 13th, 2010 -  New York, NY

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