Valencia: Restrepo

The film Restrepo follows the lives of the men in a platoon of the US Army, whom were deployed in the Korengal valley located in Afghanistan. The film focuses on the platoon’s campaign in the valley, which is to set up an outpost and drive out the Taliban, in order for the US to move freely through the valley without coming under fire. The outpost was named after Juan “Doc” Restrepo, a good friend of all the soldiers in the platoon who had been killed in action. The film follows the progress of the entire campaign and the lives of the soldiers who carry it out.

Restrepo is a direct first-person view into the reality of a US Army soldier. It almost reminds me of a real life version of a “Call of Duty” video game. However, instead of every moment being filled with massive explosions and constant intense action, Resptrepo shows what it is actually like to be a soldier; the work, the boredom, and what it is like to lose a friend in battle. What I like about this film is it’s not slanted. It shows the negatives of war (which isn’t hard to do) realistically, for instance the innocent children who were injured and killed by American attacks. It also shows the negatives of the soldiers, for example, when Captain Kearney says he did not read about the valley because he wanted to go in with an open mind. I found this just plain ignorant. The fact that the man who has other mens lives in his hands would not get all the possible information about a place where he and his platoon were going to be stationed for a year.

This film has changed the way I look at the war in Afghanistan, and specifically how little progress is being made because of the way our soldiers are dealing with diplomatic situations. There is little empathy or understanding, and there is stubbornness on both sides. I believe that the way this war is being fought is much like our drug war. I believe that little progress is being made because certain issues are not being dealt with appropriately, shooting and bombing doesn’t fix everything. In my opinion, this war cannot be won with manpower alone. We need to change our diplomatic tactics to work with the people and give them reason not to join terrorist organizations.

Three questions I would ask Sebastian Junger are:

1.       How has filming Restrepo changed your view of US soldiers?

2.       How well do you think the US is working diplomatically in Afghanistan? What would you change?

3.       Why do you choose to film right in the action (in the middle of firefights, bombing runs, etc) as well as the personal life of the soldier (the dancing, dinner, etc.)?