Korengal

Film (2014)
Directed by Sebastian Junger

With LaMonta Caldwell, Miguel Cortez, Stephen Gillespie, Aron Hijar, Sterling Jones, Dan Kearney, Joshua McDonough, Brendan O’Byrne, William Ostlund, Mark Patterson, Misha Pemble-Belkin, Juan ‘Doc’ Restrepo, Kevin Rice, Tanner Sichter, Marc Solowski, Kyle Steiner, Angel Toves

War is hell, and, as this fine, concise film shows, a lot of other things too. It involves deep companionship and devotion to fellow soldiers, a willingness to die for them if need be. It also involves wildness and abandon in the face of battle. And it involves desperation, alienation and guilt.

Through a series of intimate interviews and shots of these soldiers in their unbelievably cramped and exposed setting in the Afghani mountains, director Junger and staff have heroically and effectively shot (I use the term with a catch in my breath) a film that is raw, exposed and revealing. It is ultimately an anti-war film, though not obviously or intentionally so. One sees how war intensifies and grips the spirits of these young men, and one also sees how it spits out their remains. Of those who survive, the remains are a difficult conglomeration, of deep commitment to their fellow soldiers, of riveted passion for their task at hand, of regret for their actions, and of an aimlessness brought about by the sense that nothing in the world matters as much one they have experienced this.

Junger, who wrote the best selling book The Perfect Storm, a vivid account of a fishing vessel lost at sea (made into a film in 2000), has, as filmmaker created an almost unbelievably compelling work here. Both tales are about camaraderie in the face of overwhelming challenges. In The Perfect Storm, the challenge is nature, here it is the brutality of war. In both cases, the intensity of the challenge, and the heightened sense of life brought about by it, is the focus.

Through what seems initially like a random array of interview segments, one begins to detect a careful ordering. There are moments in which soldiers speak about the thrill of warfare and reveal honestly, in a way that is difficult to hear, about how easy it is to become a killer when one gets onto a battlefield. Scenes with the soldiers giving war whoops in the midst of battle confirm their admissions.

Then there are the interviews in which soldiers on the verge of tears speak of their crimes and the unbearable burdens they carry. The account of the death and memorial of fellow soldier Juan ‘Doc’ Restrepo, one of the members of the platoon for whom its small base is named, is gripping, an image of a collection of men in a small room filled with tears. (Junger and Tim Hetherington, who tragically died in Libya before the release of Korengal, had, earlier on, shot and directed the equally moving and superbly crafted film Restrepo (2010), an account of the same platoon.)

Contradiction is present at every turn. The soldiers convey the bravado of being in the midst of war and they also speak of the urge to get away, go home, see their families. But lurking inside of every account is a deep sense of the ungoverned sense of tragedy of being in the midst of this and the sense of meaninglessness of being away from it.

This vivid documentary and its earlier counterpart form, together, an unsettling and gripping masterpiece. To consider how Junger and Hetherington shot the film presses one to the edge of belief. Their cameras roll in the midst of the most grim and dire circumstances, and it gives one considerable pause to think about the bravery and bravado necessary to undertake such a venture.

This study of a small group of soldiers is a shocking, revealing and touching testament to the addiction of war and the array of highs, lows and utter confusion it brings.

This difficult to watch, but subtle but riveting, account, along with its earlier companion, Restrepo, should not be missed.

– BADMan