The conflict in Afghanistan has led to an upsurge of documentaries on the subject of war . One problem is trying to do something different with the theme , after all chronicles all the way back to Plato have wrestled with the subject and I think it's safe to say as long as humanity exists so will war because it's an unfortunate part of the human condition . Once in a while a documentary like Morgan Matthews THE FALLEN comes along that focuses on the gut wrenching , heart breaking element of those left behind during and after the conflict . Indeed I have no hesitation in saying THE FALLEN is the greatest documentary I have ever seen and works on so many levels . Usually however a documentary on the war in Afghanistan such as the BBCs OUR WAR and the American documentary RESTROPO is done on a fly on the wall documentary style giving the foot soldier's point of view of war . The Danish documentary ARMADILLO follows this tradition
One of the problems of portraying any war is that there's an unconscious parochial jingoism to the conflict . The average Briton on the street who has followed the war in Afghanistan will be under the impression that the only NATO soldiers in Helmand province will be British which isn't true . It's not the result of bad war reportage - or at least not the worst result of war reportage - that's responsible for this merely that news broadcaster will concentrate on units involving " our boys " hence a Canadian will think of Kandahar Province being policed by entirely Canadian units , a Briton thinks Helmand Province is an entirely British affair and an American thinking the entire NATO mission to the country being an exclusively American operation . If nothing else ARMADILLO shows it's a joint effort involving many different countries , in this case a 760 strong Danish battle group embedded with British led forces in Helmand
What ARMADILLO isn't so good at is bringing anything new to the old cliché of war being defined as 99 per cent boredom and one per cent terror " and like so many other documentaries on the subject shows tentative soldiers moving through dusty groves then a bang of an explosion and the rattle of gunfire . What it does do is point out the problems that have constantly plagued the NATO effort , one that the enemy conduct their war mainly via IED in the hidden in the shadows behind a civilian population and a civilian population at the mercy of the Taliban . As a village elder tells a Danish platoon leader " If we tell you anything the Taliban will slit our throats " . Say what you like about democracy but it's surely the least form of government
One of the problems of portraying any war is that there's an unconscious parochial jingoism to the conflict . The average Briton on the street who has followed the war in Afghanistan will be under the impression that the only NATO soldiers in Helmand province will be British which isn't true . It's not the result of bad war reportage - or at least not the worst result of war reportage - that's responsible for this merely that news broadcaster will concentrate on units involving " our boys " hence a Canadian will think of Kandahar Province being policed by entirely Canadian units , a Briton thinks Helmand Province is an entirely British affair and an American thinking the entire NATO mission to the country being an exclusively American operation . If nothing else ARMADILLO shows it's a joint effort involving many different countries , in this case a 760 strong Danish battle group embedded with British led forces in Helmand
What ARMADILLO isn't so good at is bringing anything new to the old cliché of war being defined as 99 per cent boredom and one per cent terror " and like so many other documentaries on the subject shows tentative soldiers moving through dusty groves then a bang of an explosion and the rattle of gunfire . What it does do is point out the problems that have constantly plagued the NATO effort , one that the enemy conduct their war mainly via IED in the hidden in the shadows behind a civilian population and a civilian population at the mercy of the Taliban . As a village elder tells a Danish platoon leader " If we tell you anything the Taliban will slit our throats " . Say what you like about democracy but it's surely the least form of government