A documentary made by journalist Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) and photojournalist Tim Hetherington while embedded for a one-year Vanity Fair assignment with the Second Platoon unit of the 503rd Infantry Regiment (airborne) in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.
The documentary format brings a realism and credibility to what our troops are experiencing in this region, far from the western comforts of our living rooms and offices. This means the heightened adrenaline rushes of a firefight, the daily drudgery of manually building a new outpost, and the boredom that may permeate for days or weeks at a time.
There are moments of life at its fullest for these young men and yes, there is death...
A sobering companion to last year's The Hurt Locker, I don't believe that this film has a political agenda whatsoever.
A documentary is often limited by the footage shot while covering the subject. The "story" is then written in the editing room. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of footage here, however, my only criticism, and it's a slight criticism, is that the final story (which is best defined by Aristotle as simply a beginning, middle, and end) was not as strong as I expected. Ultimately this film allowed the viewer the opportunity to partially experience what our soldiers are dealing with in Afghanistan. This is an open, honest, and credible depiction of current conditions for this particular Platoon.
It won the top documentary prize at Sundance last year and has been nominated for an Oscar this year.
I saw this on DVD and of particular interest are the extras, the interviews with some of the soldiers themselves, and an update on where they are now -- after their 15-month deployment in Afghanistan.
