Korengal (2014)

Korengal: Directed by Sebastian Junger. With LaMonta Caldwell, Miguel Cortez, Stephen Gillespie, Aron Hijar. Korengal picks up where Restrepo left off; the same men, the same valley, the same commanders, but a very different look at the experience of war.

“Strangely unengaging documentary.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eKorengal follows the lives of a company of US Army soldiers stationed at an outpost in Afghanistan in 2007-8. It is the sequel to Restrepo, which was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar in 2011.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMaybe it is because I havenu0026#39;t seen Restrepo (yet), but this documentary just doesnu0026#39;t work for me. It doesnu0026#39;t do much wrong – there is a good mix of interviews and live action footage and there is a degree of conclusiveness to it all. Yet I wasnu0026#39;t engaged. The whole thing just seemed to plod along and I didnu0026#39;t feel any real affinity towards the soldiers.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere is also a large degree of gung-ho-ness and bravado, which is a bit off-putting. The movie doesnu0026#39;t feel balanced enough. Maybe thatu0026#39;s the problem.”