Restrepo (2010)

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Writer Sebastian Junger (The Perfect Storm) and photojournalist Tim Hetherington spend a year embedded with a platoon in the deadliest place in Afghanistan, the Korengal Valley ("maybe 50 percent of the insurgents... and maybe 90 percent of the engagement in the place").

Unlike a lot of war docs/films, there's an ultratight focus on the soldiers and their experiences, with only a few reflection/framing interviews to surround the raw-- and I do mean that in a multitude of ways-- footage. No calls home are depicted here, no home lives, no "inprocessing"/"outprocessing"... when guys are injured, they merely disappear to "the emergency room, or wherever they take you."

If you've seen "Hurt Locker" or a number of other excellent war movies/docs, you've seen something similar... but you haven't quite seen this. It's a jarring, brain-scorching 90 minutes, with the filmmakers calling as little attention to themselves (and their remarkable work). You should see it.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Caught it on a screener my journo-trade-association aunt provided, but apparently it's been showing since the end of November on National Geographic Channel.