Restrepo (2010)

A year with one platoon in the deadliest valley in Afghanistan.

Directors:

Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger

Stars:

The Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Juan 'Doc Restrepo, Dan Kearney

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
The Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team	...	Themselves
Juan 'Doc Restrepo	...	Himself
Dan Kearney	...	Himself
LaMonta Caldwell	...	Himself
Aron Hijar	...	Himself
Misha Pemble-Belkin	...	Himself
Miguel Cortez	...	Himself
Sterling Jones	...	Himself
Brendan O'Byrne	...	Himself
Joshua McDonough	...	Himself
Kyle Steiner	...	Himself
Angel Toves	...	Himself
Mark Patterson	...	Himself
Stephen Gillespie	...	Himself
Marc Solowski	...	Himself

Storyline

Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's year dug in with the Second Platoon in one of Afghanistan's most strategically crucial valleys reveals extraordinary insight into the surreal combination of back breaking labor, deadly firefights, and camaraderie as the soldiers painfully push back the Taliban.

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Plot Keywords:

platoon | afghanistan | valley | soldier | taliban | 

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Taglines:

One platoon, one valley, one year

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout including some descriptions of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 2011 (Poland)

Also Known As:

Restrepo - Inferno in Afghanistan

Filming Locations:

Afghanistan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$35,581 (USA) (25 June 2010)

Gross:

$1,330,894 (USA) (3 December 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Outpost Films, Virgil Films & Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Co-director of Restrepo, Tim Hetherington, was killed on April 20, 2011 while covering the conflict in Libya.

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 6 October 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Never Forget Where I'm From"
Written by Kekama Emmsley
Performed by Justin Young

User Reviews

Stop and Think About It

It's a strange way to fight, without ever seeing the people you're shooting at and who are shooting at you.

The strongest aspect about this viewpoint documentary is its lack of an opinionated narration. The filmmakers--who deserve commendations of their own for putting themselves in the line of fire for 15 months--let the soldiers and their activities tell the story, the firefights, patrols, attempts to communicate with the Afghans, mundane chores.

And they let the viewer judge for meaning.

It isn't possible, however, to truly capture a year and three months in 90 minutes. I did find it curious that so much interview footage was cut. If you see it on DVD, don't miss the interviews shown under special features. Perhaps the director-cameramen wanted to keep the ratio heavier on footage than interviews.

In one omitted interview, the unit Captain admits that he thought he was responsible for losing even one soldier. He also mentions that one of those killed was the unit Sergeant Major's son. There should have been some way to weave this into the story.

Another soldier says he hates the terms "you did what you had to do" because he doesn't think he really had to do it. Says he doesn't think God will greet him with a playful punch to the shoulder and say "you did what you had to do." It's powerful stuff, the included and the omitted footage. For the most part we fight now with volunteers. The mix of soldiers is a bit different than it was when there was a draft, but "Restrepo" shows that American forces still bring a wide range of backgrounds and reactions.

And it shows that most are still so young that we are still sending kids to do the jobs old men ask them to do. They are brave, fearful, obscene, committed for the wrong reasons, committed for right reasons, and committed for no reason at all.

It's a powerful view.