Restrepo

When watching the film Restrepo it leads one to think about war and the reasons for it. A lot of wars start because of political and religious conflicts, epically when talking about the Middle East. Most wars on history are wars of religion but there have also been wars because of politics. Restrepo takes place in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley and revolves around a platoon of soldiers serving a one year deployment.  The journalist, Mr. Hetherington, selects to use little to no narration in the film. The lack of narration leads to the viewer having to come up with their own way to interrupt the film. In an interview, when Hetherington was asked if the film was political, he responded "Everything we do is political. So in some ways, of course, it's political." I would have to agree with that statement, when you think about it the things you wear, eat, buy, and drink all kind of show who you are as a person. When you think of the people you are friends with you tend to have things in common with them, meaning you might like the same clothes or band, which means you started talking based on what you observed about the other person. The way we meet, talk, and display ourselves is all political in one way or another. In Restrepo Hetherington doesn't seem to be supporting the war or be against it. He doesn't use narration which leads one the think was Hetherington believes about what is happening in the film. The sections of footage he uses is interesting because he mixes battle scenes with scenes of the soldiers dancing back at outpost Restrepo. Hetherington seems to use the film in a mutual way and really just shows the life of a soldier in the Korengal Valley.