I just finished reviewing "The Hornet's Nest," another film by a father and son journalist team, and I explained how I wished it was more like "Restrepo" and "Korengal."
This follow-up film to Restrepo with the filmmakers embedding with the same platoon at the same OP was equally as engaging as the original, but focused more on the other parts of war that it didn't touch on in Restrepo. This film visited the more psychological part of warfare: the mind games each and every soldier struggles with, being so bored you'd rather be in a firefight just to pass the time, or going out on patrol looking for death because you don't care anymore whether you live or die etc. It's about each soldier's individual psychological struggles and how each deals with them in their own ways.
As a journalist, I really appreciated how this film focused entirely on the soldiers and the war, letting the soldiers tell the viewer everything, rather than the filmmakers getting on-camera and explaining it to the viewer. That is where my critique of "The Hornet's Nest" was rather scathing. That film got in the way of itself, cutting back to the journalists constantly so they could get face time with the audience. I'd rather see it done how these filmmakers approached this film and Restrepo, asking the soldiers the questions and letting them answer — letting them supply the narrative, exclusively.
This film is a must-see follow-up to Restrepo as they re-embed with the same group of familiar faces for another deployment in the Korengal.
Korengal
2014
Biography / Documentary / History / News / War
Korengal
2014
Biography / Documentary / History / News / War
Plot summary
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.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
December 31, 2023 at 01:05 AM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
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Great follow-up to Restrepo
not as visceral or immediate as Restrepo
Director Sebastian Junger tries to add more depth to the documentary Restrepo he made with Tim Hetherington. In the meanwhile, Tim dies while filming in Misurata, Libya. This one delves more into the troops' feeling and the war's effectives on them. For me, it touches on too much of the same subject. It's the same place at the same time. Restrepo came earlier and feels more immediate. It was closer to the events and was more visceral. I appreciate the attempt to dive deeper into this world. I would suggest concentrating on one or two characters. It would allow the audience to truly track the development and the change in these troops over time. The footage may not be there but they could do interviews with some of these guys back home. It is eye opening to see everybody say that they rather be back in the Korengal valley. However the movie really needs the 'Where are they now?' segments.