Korengal (2014)

 

                “Korengal” is the sequel to the highly acclaimed “Restrepo”.  “Restrepo” was a war documentary about an Army unit at an outpost in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan in 2007-2008  Both movies were directed by Sebastian Junger.  He and his photographer Tim Hetherington (who was killed doing his job during the Libyan Civil War in 2011) were embedded with the platoon for a year.  They developed a relationship with the men.  This allows the audience to be a fly on the wall in the outpost and on patrol. 

                The movie opens by informing us that the U.S. pulled out of the “valley of death” in 2010 after losing 42 men. One of them was PFC Juan Sebastian Restrepo.  Where “Restrepo” dealt mainly with the type of combat the soldiers encountered, “Korengal” deals more with the impact of that combat and soldier life off the line.  There are patrols and expenditure of ammo at unseen targets, but the movie is mainly interviews with the men.  These interviews give a clear picture of how modern war affects modern American soldiers.  The video game generation goes to war.  Now the adrenalin rush is not technology induced, it’s the real deal.  One main theme of the movie is that combat is addictive.  When one of the men is asked if he will miss anything, he says:  “Shooting people”.  Another theme is the bonding that takes place between comrades.  One describes the relationships by promising that he would “walk across the country to help change a tire” for any of his mates.  Another perspective of the war is that the intense moments of contact with the Taliban are balanced by long periods of boredom.  For example, they spend six hours arguing over who would win a fight between George Clooney and Fabio.  Similar to the Vietnam War, “Korengal” makes it clear that the civilian population in Afghanistan is caught between the two foes.

                Most of “Korengal” is up-close interviews.  Some of them were done in the studio after the men returned.  Several of the men are charismatic and what they say can be powerful.  One thing you can say about the platoon, there was no dysfunction and none of them has a negative personality.  I don’t know how realistic this is, but it appears the all-volunteer army is working effectively.  And in the field, they are good soldiers, although one has to wonder how they would handle previous generations’ wars like WWII.  Let’s hope we don’t find out.

                If you have seen “Restrepo”, you should see “Korengal”.  Just be aware that like most sequels, it is not as good as the original.  It just doesn’t pack the punch and it does have the feel of leftovers.  But even though the footage was left over from the first film, Junger wisely takes a different approach on this one and it fills in gaps more than replicates.

 

GRADE  =  B 

 

CLASSIC or ANTIQUE? Reach for Glory (1962)

                “Reach for Glory” is a British home front film.  It was based on the novel “The Custard Boys” by John Rae.  It was directed by Philip Leacock (“The War Lover”).  He was noted for making movies about children.  This one has some similarities to “Lord of the Flies”.  It is set in Great Britain during WWII.  The Blitz is going on and children have been evacuated to safer towns.  This creates conflict between the evacuees and the townies.

                 Some of the evacuated boys have formed a gang to play war games in preparation for when they will be old enough to be in the real game.  For instance, they chase a cat on their bikes.  The film uses some POV and tracking shots.  It intercuts between the boys and the cat and the pace quickens toward the climax.  Pretty nifty for a small film. There are some cute dream sequences where they imagine themselves in combat.  One of them is a fighter pilot which blends actual footage with him in the cockpit.  In another, the dreamer pulls a grenade with his teeth (I wonder where he got the idea you could do that?).  The boys are attending a military school and are part of the Army Cadet Force.  A new kid is mixed in.  He happens to be an Austrian Jew named Stein who they are suspicious of, but one of the boys pairs up with him and they grudgingly accept him.  This change in their makeup will have tragic consequences.  The gang has some run-ins of the fisticuff variety with the local boys.  One melee is surprisingly true to children brawling.  The movie balances the belligerency of the boys with the pacifism of one of the older brothers.  He is a conscientious objector who is imprisoned.

                “Reach for Glory” is a simple film, but it has a powerful message.  When you add the innocence of children to a wartime situation you get results that go to territory uncharted in a peacetime world.  This is not a new concept in war movies.  Other movies have explored the naivete of home front warrior wannabes and a few have concentrated on children.  One example would be “Hope and Glory”.  However, it is rare to put the boys in a military school so they are not just dreaming.  They have access to weapons, unfortunately.  Nothing happens that is inconceivable, if you know teenage boys.  Instead of putting the boys on an island, they are put in a town isolated from the bombings.  In addition to the naivete of wanting to be in the thick of it, the movie delves into the inevitable conflicts that arise when two different cultures are thrust together.  On a smaller scale, Stein is an outsider within their group.  Ironically, Stein has been affected the most by the war and yet he is the least gung-ho about facing the Germans.  There is also the conflict between belligerency and pacifism.  The movie is thought-provoking.  This is 1962 so it was possible to discuss conscientious objecting.

                For a low budget film, the movie is well made.  There is some interesting cinematography and the score reflects the activities and attitudes of teenage boys.  Most importantly, the young cast is up to the task.  Most notably, Michael Anderson, Jr. plays the leader of the gang.  Leacock gets believable performances from his young charges.  The movie probably drew a sizable young audience and in the middle of the Cold War hopefully it opened some eyes.  Today the Cold War is over, but the movie still holds up well since we will always have wars.   All war movies should be anti-war and this one certainly is, but there are still popular movies that sell war as glamorous to the younger generation.  “Reach for Glory” should be viewed by children of war movie lovers who share their movie watching with their kids. 

                Classic or antique?  Classic.

GRADE  =  B 

CLASSIC or ANTIQUE? Tell England (1931)

 

                “Tell England” is a British film about the Gallipoli campaign in WWI.  It is alternately titled “Battle of Gallipoli”.  The movie was based on the novel by Ernest Raymond.  It was co-directed by Anthony Asquith (“Carrington, VC”) and Geoffrey Barkas.  Barkas worked on camouflage for Gen. Montgomery before the Battle of El Alamein.  The deception included 600 tanks disguised as lorries.  Asquith also wrote the screenplay.  The movie was originally meant to be a silent film.  There are title cards like you would see in a silent movie.  The title is a reference to the Spartan monument at Thermopylae.

                It is basically a buddy film set in war.  Kind of similar to Mel Gibson’s “Gallipoli” in that respect.  Rupert (Tony Bruce) and Edgar (Carl Harbord) are best friends.  Edgar is daring and Rupert is a stick in the mud.  Suddenly, they are in the army.  The movie is in a hurry to get to Gallipoli so there is no enlistment and no training.  Not even a montage.  For some reason the movie depicts fighting on the beachhead before our duo arrives.  The British assault a Turkish position.  We get some POV from the perspective of a Turkish machine gun.  The scene looks surprisingly like “Saving Private Ryan” to the point where you wonder if Speilberg was influenced by the movie.  There are quick intercuts between the machine gun and the British soldiers.  Meanwhile, Rupert and Edgar are living it up on the voyage over.  Being upper class, they are both officers and have bat men.  After they arrive, Rupert gets promoted to Captain, instead of the seemingly more qualified Edgar.  We are given no explanation for this.  The two men have switched personalities.  Naturally, there is going to be command dysfunction.

                The movie is very micro.  We get no idea of what is happening outside the field of the camera.  You won’t get an understanding of the campaign.  However, you will get the impression that it was not worth the losses.  The movie is not patriotic flag-waving.  It  does have some interesting cinematography.  There are quick cuts before they became standard in war movies.  Other than the character arcs, the movie is predictable.  The acting is average and it is really just a two man show.  At least they don’t overly emote like in silent movies.  The combat may be gritty, but the sets are too pristine.  Although there is a reference to picking lice, the trenches and dugout are far from the reality of WWI trench warfare.  The dialogue is average, some of it is soldier banter, but mostly we get officer talk.

                “Tell England” is a trifle.  It is not in a league with other WWI movies from that era.  It is more of an antique than a classic.  If you have seen all the other ones, go to You Tube and watch this one.  It’s only 80 minutes long. 

GRADE  =  C