Armadillo (2010)

Armadillo: Directed by Janus Metz. Danish soldiers are sent to Afghanistan in 2009 for 6 months, to help stabilize the country against the Taliban. They’re stationed on Armadillo military base in Helman province. Unlike other war movies, this is the real deal – no actors.

“This is a documentary. As such it tries to show the reality of camp armadillo in the Afghan Helmand province. Armadillo is the most forward of the allied camps, and as such the one with the most fighting, and the least civilian work. Taleban territory is 800 meter from the camp – and peace is not something that the locals dare hope for.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSome people seam to think this movie is an argument against the war. I beg to differ. This movie simply shows us what war sometimes is: Young men, without a clue about why, leaving their tearladen family to fight in a country far away. AT great personal cost. Sometimes the greatest. Maybe – something good will come out of it, even though it can seem hopeless.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie shows us the different coping strategies the soldiers uses. The sense of brotherhood, the porn, the adrenalin, the dark sarcastic humor. It shows us how the soldiers doesnu0026#39;t always have time to ask before shooting. And it shows us how different the soldiers are.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s a sober movie. Filmed at the front line, with images never before seen from the actual war in Afgahnistan. Beautiful camera work, sublime editing makes this a very good documentary.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEDIT: What I miss – and why I donu0026#39;t give it a 10: I am actually a bit surprised by what the soldiers do not say. In these circumstances I would expect a much more racist tone/humor. But there is hardly any of that. The few soldiers I have met in real life, have all had very complicated/nuanced/many faceted feelings towards the local culture: Admiration and disgust at the same time. I get the feeling that this movie have actually edited the worst lingo out of the movie. I think it would serve everyone good to know, that if a returned soldiers refer to someone as a camel-f***er – this is not always because that same soldier cant feel a deep respect for said camel-******* culture, customs, language and persona.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso: A soldier u0026#39;snitchesu0026#39;, and talks to his relatives back home, about a certain incident. Since everybody is talking about brotherhood in this movie, I would suspect that having a u0026quot;snitchu0026quot; in the brotherhood, has led to some interesting frustrations, misgivings and suspicions. This is not shown, which is disappointing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut still: fantastic camera-work, and very sober war movie. 8/10”