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I stumbled across this other review of the movie RESTREPO that was written on the USO’s website. I thought it was fitting to post this one today since today marks the anniversary of the day that PFC Juan “Doc” Restrepo was killed in the Korengal Valley.
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I hosted a screening of this movie along with SGT Brendan O’Byrne and Director Tim Hetherington a few weeks back at the Albany. Be sure to check the movie’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/restrepothemovie?v=app_4949752878 to find where the movie is playing around the country.
This is the third and final blog entry in the series about the showing of RESTREPO last week at the New York State Museum’s Huxley Theater in Albany, NY. Part I talked about the movie itself, Part II talked about the book that compliments it and the soon to be famous soldier from the book and movie.
This final blog entry is about what happened after the showing of the movie….
When the movie ended, the audience erupted in applause. I figured most were moved and emotionally manipulated by the movie and my suspicions were correct. After those that couldn’t stay left, the others from the overflow area came into the main theater and took the empty seats. Again the theater was filled along with many who were standing along the outside walls.
Bouhammer, Brendan and Tim at answering questions.Photo by LTC Paul Fanning
Joining me at the front of the theater was filmmaker and director Tim Hetherington and Brendan O’Byrne. Brendan was a Sergeant that was in 2nd platoon and was interviewed and talked about many times in Sebastian Junger’s book “WAR”. It is also Brendan’s face on the cover of the book and it is Brendan on the cover of the poster for RESTREPO. Tim was Sebastian’s partner in their project to document the deployment of the men at the Korengal outpost and outpost RESTREPO. They were the stars of the show, I was simply facilitating the Q&A and adding some commentary when needed based on my experience in the military and in Afghanistan.
The Q&A sessions took on more of a feel of a town-hall meeting (as Tim pointed out later). The questions did not go in the path I thought and hoped, as in they were not all about the movie. I thought people would ask “Why did that happen…” or “What did you think when….?”. There was some of that, but not near as much as I thought there would be. Due to the recent press coverage about Afghanistan, GEN McCrystal resigning, etc, there were a lot of questions about US policy in Afghanistan, military strategy and general WHYs? “Why are we there?”, “Why haven’t we had more progress?” and other questions of that nature.
Brendan watching Tim answering a questions. Photo by LTC Paul Fanning
It was obvious that there were some ultra-left (President) Bush hating Democrats and there were some very conservative Republicans in the audience. They tended to turn what was supposed to be questions into just general statements based on their political views. I tried to steer away from them as quickly as possible, but it was hard to do and not offend someone. Regardless of what the political view was the overall feeling was of respect for the soldiers.
The questions started heating up to the point of there were more than I could count. I did my best to go from left to right and spreading around the room as much as possible. At one point I looked over to Dr. Siegfried and saw that he was giving me the five minute sign. After a few more questions I wrapped it up. I apologized for not taking any more questions, again thanked every one for coming out and reminded everyone to tell their friends and family about the movie and to go see it wherever they can in the country.
As people were leaving the theater, both Brendan and Tim were outside signing movie posters, postcards, copies of “WAR” that were sold that night and just generally talking to people. As this was going on I leaned over to ask Tim and Brendan if they wanted to go out and grab a beer after we were done. They both readily agreed and said they would love to.
Tim, Bouhammer, and Brendan after the screening. Photo by LTC Paul Fanning
Two of my teammates from Afghanistan that I have talked about many times before on this blog, Prophet and Puss, were at the showing that night and were still hanging around. I asked Puss if he knew of a local watering-hole and he said he knew of a good German pub. Once we left the museum, the five of us headed over the pub and settled into a back table. For the next couple of hours Brendan, Tim, Prophet, Puss and myself all raised our glasses to honor those who were no longer with us anymore and proceeded to talk about our families, the war in Afghanistan, comparing it to other war experiences, the strategy and overall war policy. That night over a few smooth Hefeweizen beers we solved all the problems in Afghanistan, just too bad it never left the table. However if the President or GEN Petreaus were with us, they would have gotten some earful on what it would take to make things right.
As the bar closed, we all exchanged phone numbers, email addresses and promised to stay in contact. We also all agreed that we made some great friends that night and were glad that we did. As I look back, I realized that the night will go down as another in my list of accomplishments that have come about as a result of me starting this simple blog. Due to my blogging I was asked to help host this movie, then I was asked to facilitate the Q&A, and then I met some great guys who have hearts of gold and minds of warriors. Tim may be a photo-journalist, but he has hung with some of the greatest warriors in the worst of areas in the world.
This film goes hand in hand with the book written by Tim’s partner on the project, acclaimed author Sebastian Junger. Sebastian’s book “WAR” is the other half of this project and is a great read. I am currently half-way through the book so it is very fresh in my mind. If you get a chance to see RESTREPO then you have to read the book. It fills in many of the gaps. It is not like you typical book first and then movie made from book kind of deal. They were done in tandem so neither drives the other, but each completes the other. I will have a book review up soon after finishing it, but know this. If you watch or read one without the other, you are missing the other part of the experience. Reading names in a book is one thing, seeing those soldier’s faces fill a movie screen is something else.
There is another facet of this movie (and book) that is yet to be recognized. That is that a future Medal of Honor recipient (the first live one since the Vietnam War) was in this unit. Sal Giunta will be the first live Medal of Honor recipient we have seen in a long time. From my sources, it has already been signed by the President and they are only waiting on an award date. Sal’s exploits that earned him this distinct honor are detailed in the book. He was never shown (that I know of) in the movie, but this was his unit. He was there and it happened in what many of the soldiers described as their “low point” in the tour, Operation Rock Avalanche.
If you want to learn more about Rock Avalanche, I suggest seeing the movie or reading the book, or waiting until it is made public that Sal Giunta is going to be awarded the Medal of Honor. I am sure what that happens then much more will be made public about the operation. I also suggest heading over to Blackfive and reading what my buddy Jimbo wrote, www.blackfive.net/main/2010/07/first-living-medal-of-honor-since-vietnam.html
The other night I had the fortunate ability to watch a special screening of the movie, RESTREPO. In fact this site, Bouhammer.com was a presenter of the movie and I am extremely proud to have been involved with a screening that had a standing-room only crown of over 300 people.
The movie was shown at the New York State Museum’s Huxley Theater in downtown Albany, NY. I expected somewhere around maybe 150 to show up if we were lucky. I was humbled and amazed at the turnout which had to be close to 325 people. In fact when I first got to the museum, our contact there showed me the overflow area in case the theater seating of 220 was maxed out. I joked that I am sure we would not need overflow but it is always good to have a backup plan.
A little while later, but before the people started showing up, I found out all the local media in the Albany, NY area had been pushing the movie showing all day. They did not inform people to RSVP so we really had no idea how many would show up. I believe this was why we had so many show up, which was really a great thing.
The night started with Dr. Siegfried, the Director of the museum introducing me as the presenter of the film and moderator of the Q&A time afterwards. I then thanked everyone for being present on behalf of all the sponsors plus on behalf of bouhammer.com. We then got right into the showing.
The movie was simply amazing. It has the same Cinema Verti style that Scott Kesterson’s “At War” has. The movie serves as a view through the soldier’s eyes of life in the most remote and dangerous place in Afghanistan during 2007-2008. It showed not only the bad, but also some of what could only be classified as the good of life in a remote outpost dug into the side of a hill.
The name comes from the first soldier killed in 2nd Platoon, Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team during that deployment. It was “Doc” Restrepo, the platoon medic. In all honesty I think the name really comes from the outpost which was built during the deployment that was named after Doc Restrepo. That outpost is where 2nd platoon took up residence. It was the most crude living conditions that one could have while serving in the most technology advanced army of one of the most wealthiest nations in the world. No TV, No phones, No internet, nothing as far as connection with the outside world except for military radios and hand-written letters.
It is that type of austere life that the viewer gets to witness in all its highs and lows. The film shows how the soldiers made the best out of what they had, or didn’t have. They joked with each other, and there was pretty much nothing off-limits. It was the ultimate boys club. The crude jokes, homo-erotic humor, and complete un-political correctness that makes up soldier life is portrayed at different points in the film.
Part of the decision making process of setting up and patrolling such a dangerous place as the Korengal Valley is also shown via shura meetings with elders and some of the static interviews with both company commander Dan Kearney (BTW, his father, LTG Frank Kearney was my Battalion Commander at one time in my military career) and 1SG Caldwell that were done after the unit re-deployed back to Italy.
Speaking of the static interviews, I think that is what really sets this film apart and gives the viewer the “human” side of the soldiers. It is one thing to see the soldiers on the outpost joking around, yelling during a firefight or even sunbathing…it is something else when the camera is zoomed in very close on their face as they sit in a studio in Italy with a black backdrop and let their emotions, fears, concerns and cares flow out for all to see. There were many interviews, but I think it is Cortez’s who impacted me the most. PFC (I think that was his rank at the time) Cortez appears to be one of those guys who hides his feelings behind an infectious smile, but his eyes speak something different. As the interviews with Cortez continue on in the film the smile stays, but the eyes seem to change. That is until the last interview snippet as he drops the smile and just stares into the camera. Maybe it is just me, but it seemed that through his whole interview he did all he could to keep that smile up as a sign of nervousness and as a way to hide what was inside, but as he got near the end he either could not do it anymore or he just finally felt comfortable enough to let his guard down. For me as a previous First Sergeant who has dealt with many problems brought to me by my soldiers I do a lot of body language and facial reading. For me, the smile stood out as hiding something, but the dropping of it at the end said a lot more.
As I mentioned earlier, there were some “good” times. Times that showed the stamina of the American Soldier as he took the worst of situations and found humor in them. There were parts in the movie that made more than just old soldiers like me laugh, but made everyone laugh. These guys had NONE of the everyday comforts we Americans take for granted without even a partial thought day in and day out. They had to make best of what they had. Sometimes it was dancing with each other, other times it was fighting each other.
There is not much more I can say about the film without giving away more details that I think would be unfair to you. You need to see this and take it in and get your own impression. Just know that Bouhammer’s Afghan and Military Blog gives it TWO THUMBS UP. I put this film up there with “At War”, “Severe Clear”, and the mini-series “Generation Kill” when it comes to showing the realism of what life in a combat zone is like. If you live in the Albany, NY area it is currently showing at the Spectrum Theater and will continue to show there for as long as an audience shows up. There are many other theaters that it is showing in across the country. Please check out www.facebook.com/restrepothemovie to find a theater near you.
I am so glad to announce that if you live anywhere in the Albany, NY area that you are invited to the New York State Museum’s Huxley Theater to see a special screening of the critically-acclaimed and 2010 Sundance Film Festival winning movie, RESTREPO on July 6th, 2010 starting at 6:30 PM. The movie goes hand in hand with Sebastian Junger’s latest book, WAR. Sebastian was the author of the book The Perfect Storm which of course spawned the movie of the same name.
Below is the trailer from RESTREPO just to give you an idea of what the movie is like and about. If you have served in Afghanistan, had family or friends serve there or care about our forces in Afghanistan then I think this will be a movie for you to see. I invite all website owners and fellow milbloggers to help me spread the word about this showing to help get the word out.
Bouhammer.com has been working hard with National Geographic films, the New York State National Guard, and the New York State Museum to make this possible. We are not only presenting this film to all whom would like to see it before it hits theaters, but after the showing, Award-Winning Photographer Tim Hetherington will be present to answer any questions the audience may have about the film. Here is a short clip of Tim talking about his work in a piece that was put together for the 2008 Rory Peck Awards.
In order to secure your seats, please RSVP by sending an email to rsvp.albany.restrepo@gmail.com by July 2nd. Seating is limited so don’t wait and get your seats confirmed ASAP.
I will be there to personally introduce the movie and will hang out after with Tim to facilitate the Q&A session between the audience and Tim.
Some additional references below are a series of photographs from the time Tim and Sebastian spent with the 173rd Airborne Platoon in the Korengal Valley, and a review of the movie by the New York Times.
It has been a while since I have put up a poll here on Bouhammer. With all the interest lately of the film The Hurt Locker and so many other blogs, websites and MSM outlets talking about it and pointing to this blog I figured it was time to take a poll of my readers to see what you think.
What is your opinion of The Hurt Locker?
It was good filmmaking, and I like it for that reason (26%, 34 Votes)
Loved it, thought it was a great movie and deserves an Oscar (23%, 30 Votes)
Couldn't stand it. It was so fake that it should not get any award (15%, 19 Votes)
It was ok (neutral response) (13%, 17 Votes)
Terrible, it was one of the worst movies ever made and disrespects our military (10%, 13 Votes)
Did not like it, as I thought it was poorly made (8%, 10 Votes)
Awesome, it was a great representation of soldiers in war (5%, 8 Votes)
Five days before the Oscars are awarded, "The Hurt Locker," what some people are calling "the best Iraq war movie to date," finds itself under attack.
Five days before the Oscars are awarded, what some people are calling "the best Iraq war movie to date" finds itself under attack.
"The Hurt Locker," a Best Picture nominee that portrays coalition soldiers disarming bombs in the heat of battle, is being criticized by some veterans and current members of the military, who say it presents them as being “too much John Wayne.” Moreover, the attack seems to have the outright support of the military itself, despite its endorsement by the secretary of defense.
Last week the Army arranged a series of interviews for the Los Angeles Times with enlisted men and officers who have questioned the authenticity of the movie and its depiction of the members of Army Explosives Ordinance Team (EOD) working in Iraq. The movie, written by a journalist, Mark Boal, who was embedded with an EOD in Iraq, focuses on the character of Staff Sergeant William James, played by Jeremy Renner, who becomes addicted to the adrenaline rush of his job, often to the detriment of his unit.
Several active EOD servicemen currently serving in Iraq told the Times that they disagreed with the film’s depiction of their work. One said that the portrayal was amateurish, “the equivalent of a firefighter going into a building with a squirt bottle.” Another charged it was “too much John Wayne and cowboy stuff.”
But perhaps the most damaging claim, 18 months after the film’s release, was the revelation that just 12 hours before a military adviser was to have begun a stint as technical adviser to the film, the Army withdrew its support. According to the newspaper, the military adviser who was assigned to help the film’s makers was told that scenes being filmed in Jordan weren’t in the script provided to the military, a violation of the military’s agreement with the filmmakers.
Both the adviser, Lt. Colonel J. Todd Brasseale, and Philip Strub, the Pentagon’s special assistant for entertainment media, argued that the effort to create drama overshadowed the need to accurately depict the workings of EOD accurately. “If you are looking for realism and how military relationships work, I believe she missed the mark,” Strub said of Kathryn Bigelow, the film’s director. Bigelow, like her film, has been nominated for an Academy Award.
For the most part, criticism has focused on the character of Sgt. James, the movie’s lead character. Ryan Gallucci, who served in Iraq in 2003 and now works for Amvets, a veterans’ organization, said, “I thought the movie was great until the time they introduced the character played by Jeremy Renner. After that it was all downhill. I felt they portrayed the military in a negative fashion. I had to turn it off several times and, in the end, I was pulling for him to get blown up.” Renner is nominated for the Best Actor Award.
But supporters of the film, who include Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, argue that for the most part the movie got the atmosphere and the tension of the job correct — even if some of the details don’t jibe with military protocol or procedures.
James Clifford, the movie’s adviser who served in military bomb disposal units for 28 years, argues that most of the criticisms of the movie “are differences without distinction,” and in every case were the result of decisions by the movie makers to emphasize a larger point.
For example one critic charged that the movie was ruined for her because the soldiers were wearing combat uniforms that weren’t being used in 2004, when the movie takes place. Others, including Gallucci, say that not having the EOD unit surrounded by other support units isn’t the way it worked in Iraq and that they would never travel independently in Baghdad or any other spot in Iraq. Alex Horton, for example, wrote on the ARMY of Dude blog that “the way the team goes about their missions is completely absurd,” but he added that it was still “the best Iraq war movie to date.”
Boal, the writer of the movie and another Oscar nominee, countered saying that they were not trying to make a documentary but a entertaining movie.
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