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“One Platoon; One Valley; One Year” is the motto of the documentary “Restrepo,” directed by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger. Probably one of the best documentaries ever made about American troops fighting against Taliban insurgents in remote Afghanistan. “Restrepo” is a chronological report of one year about Battle Company, which fights in Afghanistan´s most dangerous region, the Korengal Valley.  Although it has a lot of things in common with Junger´s New York Times-Bestseller War, this documentary shows in a 93 minutes the courage, fear, and struggle of American soldiers in the Afghanistan war, as no other documentary has ever before.

 

During the film, the 2nd Platoon is ordered to defend an Observation Post (OP) named OP Restrepo, for Juan Sebastian Restrepo, a Colombian-born naturalized U.S. citizen platoon medic who was killed earlier during a fire fight. The film portrays the construction of the OP Restrepo advanced outpost, as well as the challenges and relentless firefights they faced while they managed to build the outpost from nothing in only one night. It also shows the challenges and decisions they have to face in order to target Taliban insurgents and not Afghan civilians, which often becomes a major problem. The film is a must-see because it also makes you think about the Afghan people and the consequences it has to their daily lives.

But one question remains: would you have the courage to fight in a place where one false step can become a catastrophe? 

By Sergio Calderon


Mick
6/5/2011 05:10:44 pm

I also think that this film very compelling and that it is a must see. When I watched the film it showed the reality of war and not any fiction action story. The film gives zou a look on every single positive and negatiive side of war and it's much easier to give a statement of war beinng positive or negative if you see such an film which shows really every single side. You could maybe have added as an example that in the Korengal Valley there are up to 7 fights per day. To give the reader a little example. But overall "Good Job".

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