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Restrepo

Posted by fil on August 15th, 2010

After watching the Hesher post, and realizing that I somehow missed all the good movies at Sundance this year despite the fact that I had TICKETS…I did remember that I saw one good movie; Restrepo. I don’t remember if I mentioned how good this film was to anyone, but I think it was the best documentary I have ever seen.


Restrepo’s 2 directors went to Afghanistan and filmed the life of soldiers for one year. Its amazing to see soldiers in their element without Hollywood’s glossy spin on it…(think Hurt Locker….which was good, but basically worthless once I saw Restrepo).

For all you fancy boys still back East, I just saw that its still playing at the Angelika Film Center in NYC. I’d say it’s worth the effort to see this movie if you’re in the city and a fan of film (*cough*eric).

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 15th, 2010 at 10:05 am and is filed under Lots of Pulp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

3 Responses to “Restrepo”

  1. August 15th, 2010 at 7:14 pm

    eric says:

    I actually saw this a couple of months ago at the Angelika and I’m wasn’t totally sure how to feel about it.

    What I did like about the film was what you were getting at, Fil–It’s a very real picture of modern warfare, in both the battle sequences and the way it portrays the soldiers.

    Where I got lost was in the overall sentiment of the film. I felt like I was meant to be celebrating these soldiers (establishing Outpost Restrepo–this outpost which they name after their fallen comrade, attempting to interface with the locals and win their support, and just surviving their deployment).

    I appreciate that sentiment, but by the end of the film, the elders of the local village end up unwilling to cooperate because they’ve had so many innocent people killed and because they just don’t trust the Americans. The soldiers go home with their mission uncompleted–and with less friends than they started with.

    In my mind, I couldn’t help but feel like everything they were there for and the death of their friend was for naught. I felt like the filmmakers wanted to me to celebrate these guys, when what I saw reinforced in me the belief that our military efforts in Afghanistan are essentially pointless–a huge waste of effort, national resources, and lives.

  2. August 16th, 2010 at 2:46 am

    fil says:

    I agree with what you are saying—all of it actually. I would say the main difference I had with the film is that the two directors were at the screening and did a QA session right after and sort went into detail about why they made the movie (the details of which I am sure I will butcher…) But what really struck me is that they wanted to just create an honest war film that didn’t tell the story from either side of the political spectrum. I don’t think they were trying to make these people out to be heros, or bad guys. I remember sitting there once the film ended and thinking to myself….what was the point of that? Was someone suppose to win, or was I really suppose to feel something? And directly after thinking this…the directors said that their goal was to show one year in Afghanistan from a soldiers’ perspective. I think they did just that. I don’t remember feeling like I was being fed one side of a story, then the other side for contrast to be ‘fair’. I really felt like I was just watching people play out their lives as soldiers.

    I don’t know…I just really enjoyed the perspective of seeing a war film that was actually real. The directors gave a very good insight into the movie directly afterwards which really enhanced the experience.

    Also, they were in combat with those soldiers, and were in real life battles with only a camera, and no guns. They even joked at one point about how all the soldiers around them kept offering them guns because they were so crazy to be out in battle without one.

    At any rate, I see what you mean, but still think it was something important to see.. I don’t think it will change anyone’s mind about the war, but gives a good insight into what really goes on in Afghanistan.

  3. August 17th, 2010 at 4:31 pm

    eric says:

    It sounds like I should probably rewatch with that in mind. What you’re describing was really what I did love about the film; my feelings of anger toward the war itself may have overshadowed in forming my overall reaction.

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