Stationed
in a remote outpost in the Korengal Valley dubbed Camp Restrepo (in honor of a
late, beloved medic), the men of the Airborne Brigade’s Battle Company, 2/503
were supposed to be the tip of the spear for the American military in
Afghanistan. However, in 2010, the administration decided the spear no longer
needed a tip and closed all the American outposts in the deadly Korengal.
Through new interviews and previously unseen footage, Sebastian Junger revisits
the men featured in his Academy Award nominated documentary Restrepo, analyzing the impact of war on
those who fight it in Korengal (trailer here), which opens
this Friday in New York.
Tragically,
Junger completed Korengal without his
late partner Tim Hetherington, who shot his share of the footage and served as
co-director of Restrepo and the
subject of Junger’s elegiac tribute documentary, Which Way is the Front Line from Here? In fact, they had always
planned a more reflective companion film to Restrepo
that would allow audiences to become better acquainted with the men of Battle
Company.
So
now that Restrepo has been decommissioned, do they miss it? More than you might
think. War can be shocking and profoundly unfair, as Junger’s first film with
Hetherington documents, but it can also be bracing. Nothing clears the head
like a morning fire fight, especially for the athletically inclined. (In a
rueful aside, one Airborne infantryman casually observes the Korengal mountain
ridge would be “sports paradise” were it not for all the warfare going on.)
However,
Junger will not allow ideological viewers to conveniently dismiss the men as
adrenaline junkies. That might play a part in their adaptation to the harsh duty
conditions, but the men form a strong camaraderie with one another and
consciously shield their loved ones from the realities of their service as best
they can. They also develop unromanticized opinions of the assorted clan
leaders operating within the Korengal. Frankly, they probably have a much
better understanding of the country than their current civilian leadership (not
that that is a particularly high standard to surpass). Indeed, they sound
remarkably grounded, all things considered, despite all they have witnessed.
It
is very clear why Junger made his Afghanistan films, including Front Line. They vividly capture the
soldiering experience, very definitely including the sudden loss of a
brother-in-arms. However, it is fair to wonder what was the purpose of the
events they documented, if the strategy can be reversed at the drop of a hat? To
Junger’s credit (and Hetherington’s too), the films scrupulously avoid politics,
but once the house lights come back up, we exit into a political world.