Restrepo

Saw Restrepo, a documentary shot at the soldier's-eye view of the Afghanistan war. It's very moving. We get to know this gang of rowdy boys who wrestle and pull pranks and who express their deep affection for each other via ironic homoeroticism. They're obnoxious and adorable. We watch them as they barely cope with the constant stress of imminent death. They try to deal with the natives and try to "fix" the valley they've been deployed to. Their fight over this tiny valley is the war in miniature.

This is a soldier-worshiping but also anti-war film. The army higher-ups are constantly misstepping and you get the sense that the army is only barely tolerated by the locals, that everyone is one grudge away from grabbing an AK. At one point the army mortars the house of a civilian they thought was related to the insurgents. This results in the deaths of a bunch of kids and women. A colonel is brought in to apologise but all he does is lecture them about the justness of the war, as they hold their dead children. Later, they talk of job-opportunities and growing a local economy to village elders who are so wizened they look like nosferatu. Do they really think rural Afghanistan cares about the same thing as Norman Rockwell's America? I shake my head at this, but then what would I have them do? The film focusses on the increasingly haggard faces of the soldier boys.

A moving film, I thought I would be repulsed by the rough masculinity of the soldiers but instead I felt welcomed into their circle of camaraderie. I realize of course that in real life I would be eaten alive, but it's nice to be able to visit a place I could never go. Anyway, this film is a fascinating look at a reality we seem to be much more comfortable ignoring. Good film.