Wartorn: 1861-2010 (TV 2010)

With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, the HBO special WARTORN 1861-2010 brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on ... See full summary »

Directors:

Jon Alpert, Ellen Goosenberg Kent,

1 win.

Storyline

With suicide rates among active military servicemen and veterans currently on the rise, the HBO special WARTORN 1861-2010 brings urgent attention to the invisible wounds of war. Drawing on personal stories of American soldiers whose lives and psyches were torn asunder by the horrors of battle and PTSD, the documentary chronicles the lingering effects of combat stress and post-traumatic stress on military personnel and their families throughout American history, from the Civil War through today's conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | ptsd | post traumatic stress | veteran | american soldier | 

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Genres:

Documentary | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Háborús sebek

Company Credits

Production Co:

Attaboy Films, HBO Documentary Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Gut wrenching documentary

Relentlessly grim, gut wrenching documentary on Veterans afflicted by PTSD, from the Civil War right through Iraq.

A plea for more care to be given to soldiers' minds, with estimates in the film of numbers as high as 30% of all soldiers being affected by PTSD. Indeed one active army psychiatrist says he doesn't know how any man or woman could see much active battle and not be deeply scarred, unless they were dead inside to begin with.

The individual stories are all tremendously affecting, all so different, and yet all the same at the core, from aging WWII veterans openly weeping looking back to their shattered post-war lives, to a Civil War soldier's series of letters charting his decent from wide-eyed optimism into suicidal despair, to an Iraq veteran's family trying to hold it together with their father not the same man who left for war.

It's not an anti-military film. Indeed the film credits the modern army for at least admitting this is a real problem and trying to find better ways to help soldiers cope. But to paraphrase one mother in the film, until the army spends as much time and effort helping these men heal as it does turning them into killing machines, the destruction of souls will continue unabated.

How interesting and powerful to see a film that's pro-military but anti-war. And really, is there any better way to be pro solider? To appreciate what they do by trying to protect them the best we can, and by avoiding war and putting them in harm's way unless it's absolutely and completely unavoidable? And to do all that we can to repay them with care and attention, and the funds and social will that takes.