Review of Restrepo (2010) by Hunter D — 11 Feb 2011
In a year when most of the documentaries are either anger-inducing screeds or quirky meta-narratives, it's refreshing to see a documentary that is merely a document. Journalists Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger spent a year with a platoon in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, the deadliest war zone out there and essentially the asshole of the world.
They take fire every day, the base they built is ramshackle at best, and keeping relations on a friendly level with the locals is difficult to say the least. RESTREPO is probably the best look we have into modern warfare and the day to day lives of soldiers enduring the worst of it, and as a straight up document, RESTREPO is also apolitical, never going out of its way to make a statement, but rather presenting you with a true life account.
As THE HURT LOCKER taught us, mere presentation is more powerful than soapboxing. RESTREPO happens to be one of those rare films that could be classified as "brave," a word often overused by Hollywood dipshits to jerk each other off during awards season, but RESTREPO is a case of filmmakers putting their lives in danger to bring audiences something they've never seen that gives a new insight on the continuing war in the middle east from the ground level.
This review of Restrepo (2010) was written by Hunter D on 11 February 2011.
Restrepo has generally received very positive reviews.
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