I don't know if you've ever noticed, but war movies have a funny way of filming death. Once a character is killed, it usually exists the storyline like it ceased to exist altogether. From personal experience, it was Terrence Malick's iconic war epic THE THIN RED LINE that included the entirety of the process of dying on screen, in all its ugliness. War movies have come a long way altogether and 2010 documentary RESTREPO was revolutionary in the sense that it showed unadulterated traumatic situations in all their complexity. I raved about it back then. Well, RESTREPO wasn't done being groundbreaking after it was done, because it has a sequel titled KORENGAL.
There is a quick overview of what RESTREPO is about in the beginning of KORENGAL, but I'd advise you to watch them in order. Back to back if possible. See, there is this bizarre and masochistic reality of war called redeployment, and the company that was featured in RESTREPO almost all signed up for a second deployment in the Korengal Valley, one of the most dangerous and remote outposts in the history of war on terror. Literally, the only purpose of their presence there is to attract firefights and smoke out Talibans. KORENGAL is the story of why these guys decided to go back out there.
It's impossible for me to discuss KORENGAL independently from RESTREPO, because I've seen both. I'm not sure they're meant for different discussions anyway. Now, the agenda behind RESTREPO was pretty clear: war is bad, and whatever it is that's giving Donald Rumsfeld a stiffy is ruining the lives of fine young men. KORENGAL seems devoid of an agenda, and therefore takes a life of its own because of it. It exposes life in a dirty, remote and slightly hopeless outposts without a politically inclined angle, and the strong, intangible bond it creates between men who risk their lives everyday for a cause greater than them.
Just another Tuesday afternoon in the Korengal Valley, trying to debunk a khat-crazed sniper.
The fantastic thing about KORENGAL is that bond, that impression that the men stationed in the Restrepo outpost have tapped into something that everybody else is still trying to figure out. Specialist Kyle Steiner says towards the end of the movie that he'd trek across America to help a company member change a flat tire, no questions asked and I believe him. I'd do more for the guys I've boxed with than for most people in my life, so I can't imagine what kind of bond life-and-death situations, where you can only count on one another, can actually create. KORENGAL is an important documentary. Maybe even more so than RESTREPO. It's one of the most important war movies I've ever seen (although I'm no expert on the subject) becase its themes are universal and oddly positive, highlighting what defines humanity.
My opinion of KORENGAL might be biased by the fact that I've seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) RESTREPO, but I thought it was really fulfilling and didn't feel like it was lying to me. It's oddly positive, but its got jagged edges. The men stationed in the Korengal Valley were prey to an intangible force that changed them, and molded them (a phenomenon most visible through the tragic eyes of Specialist Miguel Cortez), but it also gave them something no one can ever take away from them. I thought KORENGAL was a documentary that goes against the grain, an inspiring oddity in an otherwise extremely politicized landscape. Honestly, I can't say enough good things about it. If you're interested by the concept of war like I am, you owe yourself to watch both RESTREPO and KORENGAL.
BADASS
My opinion of KORENGAL might be biased by the fact that I've seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) RESTREPO, but I thought it was really fulfilling and didn't feel like it was lying to me. It's oddly positive, but its got jagged edges. The men stationed in the Korengal Valley were prey to an intangible force that changed them, and molded them (a phenomenon most visible through the tragic eyes of Specialist Miguel Cortez), but it also gave them something no one can ever take away from them. I thought KORENGAL was a documentary that goes against the grain, an inspiring oddity in an otherwise extremely politicized landscape. Honestly, I can't say enough good things about it. If you're interested by the concept of war like I am, you owe yourself to watch both RESTREPO and KORENGAL.
BADASS