Post Twenty Two

On Restrepo

Looks like fun, doesn't it?  Restrepo is a docudrama about the Afghanistan "kinetic conflict" (per the current administration).  The film follows a small group of soldiers over the course of their entire fifteen month tour of duty in 2007-08.  At various points, the action is interspersed with present-day interviews of the protagonists reflecting on their experiences.  I found the film riveting and totally unbiased.  The director had no political agenda.  This fact allows the viewer to draw their own conclusions based on the material presented.

Restrepo, by the way, is the name of an outpost in the unit's area of operations; the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan.  It is also the name of the unit's first KIA (Killed in Action; PFC. Juan Restrepo).  By all accounts, the Korengal is a very nasty place.  Were it not for gravity and an atmosphere I would be hard pressed to distinguish it from the surface of the moon.  This valley is home to some rather unfriendly locals, and a boatload of Taliban insurgents.  The soldier's mission is to win the hearts and minds of the locals while at the same time extending their zone of control deeper into Taliban-held territory.

Most of the action takes place at outpost Restrepo which is only a few hundred meters from the unit's main base.  It might as well have been in Kansas, though, as the Taliban frequently launches attacks and harassment fire from the surrounding mountains.  You really get a feel for how out in the open the unit has been placed, and how incredibly stressful this situation places on the individual soldiers.  The unit's commanding officer is Captain Kearney who has big dreams of building bridges with the locals and taking it to the Taliban. 

This dream leads us to the film's big finale where the unit is deployed in an aggressive patrol deep into Taliban territory.  The unit is attacked immediately, and the unit suffers more losses.  While we are told the Taliban suffer grievous losses we never actually see any bodies.  I guess we take it on their word that all the aircraft bombs and drones actually hit their targets. 

The bridge-building with the local elders is a joke.  Capt. Kearney is truly out of this depth, and while he means well the locals simply want us to leave.  It's a very sad situation.  You feel for the soldiers, but one cannot help but come to the conclusion that this war is simply another Vietnam.  And it is likely to end the same way.

Restrepo is well worth seeing.  I recommend it highly as a good way to get the real story about the war in Afghanistan with all the political fluff removed.

4/5 Stars.