Although barely acknowledged by the outside world, at the height of the Afghan conflict the Korengal Valley was recognised to be the deadliest place on Earth. By the end of 2007 nearly a fifth of the combat in Afghanistan was staged on her ridges and outcrops. Restrepo sets its unflinching sights on one strategic outpost deep in the heart of the deadly valley. Between them Tim and Sebastian made ten helicopter trips into the Korengal beginning in June 2007, a month after Second Platoon had arrived. They dug in with the platoon, manning the exposed position and capturing the boredom, humour and utter hopeless terror of daily life on the rocky OP.
Eating, sleeping and surviving alongside the soldiers, Junger and Hetherington shadowed their every move, doing everything short of returning enemy fire. Three months after the end of deployment they reunited with the unit at its base in Vicenza, Italy. Using two Veri-Cams, a light and sound package and two cameramen, they conducted a series of interviews with their principle characters. Initially intended as an underscore for the vérité, these interviews instead became an integral part of the project and ultimately gave Restrepo some of its most affecting footage.
Both Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington are experienced at combat reportage and with Restrepo they have combined their narrative and photographic skills to devastating effect. The final result is an immersive, living, breathing, flick book of the unpalatable reality of warfare that snatches you into the action and refuses to let you exhale. Lacking the traditional documentary trappings of narration, outside opinion or political rhetoric, the film simply and powerfully proffers the experience of war through the eyes of the men who wage it.
Despite critical parallels being drawn with The Hurt Locker, Restrepo has far more in common with the terrible intimacy of Samuel Maoz’s Lebanon than with the Yankee Doodle blandness of Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar winner. The poignancy of the film is a testament to the bond its makers forged with Second Platoon and to their unprecedented access. The disbelief as a beloved member of the unit is lost and the desperate grasp for the reassurance of a quick passing is captured with the same respect and lack of judgement as a chant for sheer bloody revenge. Some are shown praying for fallen colleagues, others chose to stand silent close by. Could you/would you pray? Perhaps, but you surely would not chose to worship in a place that would make a man of faith question the very existence of God.
The intention of this film was to deploy its audience with Second Platoon and to submerge them in their war. It utterly succeeds. Restrepo held my emotions and my attention in white knuckle grip and did not yield until long after the credits rolled. Visceral, brutally honest and heartbreakingly real, Restrepo is a remarkable piece of filmmaking and an absolute must see.
Restrepo is released in the UK on 8th October
To host a regional premiere please visit Dogwoof’s Ambassador’s Programme here