On Beamafilm: Restrepo

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In 2007, filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington spent the year, with a platoon of United States soldiers in the dangerous Korengal Valley. When they began to build and defend a new Observation Post, they called it O.P. Restrepo after a fallen comrade: Juan “Doc” Restrepo. Observational footage of the platoon is combined with candid interviews with the soldiers filmed after the end of their deployment. Together, they provide an extraordinary insight into the personal side of war – how it affects individual men, and how soldiers stay strong for long, dangerous deployments. Terrifying machine gun fire and tragedy are contrasted with small tastes of the soldier’s lives. One of the most surreal, but comforting moments of the film is the sight of the barracks decorated with coloured lights and red fluffy stockings for Christmas. These small details are contrasted with the immense scale of the war, and these men’s place in it. As Tim Hetherington put it in an interview with National Geographic: “People who haven't experienced war inevitably base their understanding of it [on] the mediated versions of news or Hollywood. These representations are often limited and can't quite reveal the humor, boredom, and confusion inherent in combat. It's something we felt was important to represent.” “Restrepo” is not the Afghanistan War as seen by the mass media. It is the Afghanistan War from the inside, as seen by the men who have lived it. The excellence and importance of this documentary have been recognised with multiple award wins and nominations, including a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. Watch 'Restrepo' on Beamafilm now!