Restrepo Analysis

    When asked if his film Restrepo was a political statement, director Tim Hetherington claimed that it was not, but in a way it was because everything that we do is political.  By this, he means that all of our actions, no matter how small, affect how other people view us, in a way making every action a political statement.  I agree that this is true, for better or for worse.  Attributes such as what we wear, what we eat, and how we speak can greatly affect the opinions of others, even if they get the wrong impression from their limited view.  Thus, even though Restrepo does not clearly offer the viewer the director's viewpoint, it is still a political statement based on how it portrays the actions of the soldiers taking part in the film.

   The central message of Restrepo is that war has a profound and sometimes irreversible effect on those taking part in it.  It does not focus on the causes of American involvement in Afghanistan or the merits of these causes at all, like most documentaries about the controversial conflict would.  Instead, Hetherington shows the everyday lives of American soldiers living in horrendous conditions in one of the most dangerous places in the world.  One of the most striking aspects of the film is the youth of many of the soldiers involved, and how they are being exposed at a very young age to horrors most people never imagine.  Many scenes showing the soldiers wrestling, singing, dancing, and talking to their families show that they are really still kids, even though they are in a very grown-up situation.  One scene even showed two soldiers playing a video game about war, and frighteningly, they seemed to carry over this childlike enthusiasm into actual fighting against real human beings.  These men were changed forever by their experience in Afghanistan, and I think that this is what Hetherington is trying to convey to the viewer, not a more general political statement on whether the war is justified or not.  The interviews with the soldiers after they return home are very telling, as the camera films close-ups of their face.  Many of their faces still look young, but watching their eyes and mannerisms truly indicate what they have gone through, as they look uncomfortable, anxious, and sad at many points.  Even when they appear to be happy, their moods seem to change quickly as they remember the things that they witnessed in Afghanistan. Restrepo painted a very different picture of war than is seen in Hollywood movies or on the news, that tend to glorify and justify the actions of the military.  Hetherington decided against making a generalized political statement about war, and instead showed the effect that war has on the individual soldiers involved, making a very different and much more personal kind of political statement.