Have you ever thought about all the no win scenarios that soldiers in Afghanistan are put through on a near daily basis? No? Well this film is all about those. It is told through the perspective of one commander of a danish patrol. For the first hour of the film we watch their daily activities unfold. Like patrolling near by areas or associating with locals. Right off the bat we are introduced into the harshness of this war. With the opening scene we see a young man step on a buried land mine. With in minutes he loses his life and we get to see how this affects all the men around him. It's a jarring way to introduce us into this world.
It's unfortunate that the rest of the film isn't this impactful. After this we follow the men for another hour or so and nothing like that first scene happens again. In fact it almost forgets that it ever happened with in ten or so minutes. I'm not asking that the entire film be a nonstop, disturbing, in your face action film.
But I would have liked to see the film maintain any kind of consistency. It shows quickly how uneasy just walking around can be but this sense of unrest almost immediately wears off. It proceeds to become a regular old war movie just like any other we have seen. It made sitting through the first half almost a chore.
There where a couple of great scenes thrown in there but it was mostly predictable and uneven. The best parts of the movie happen in it's latter half. Where our commander is being put on trial after ordering an airstrike on a Taliban soldiers. Come to find out, there weren't just Taliban in there. No, women and children where also among the dead.
Once this information is discovered he is accused of not following protocol which lead to their deaths. This is where the film really blossoms. It is able to show that war isn't just fought out there. But soldiers often have to fight in court rooms where they can potentially go to prison for a simple lapse in judgment.
It really is able to put into prospective how harsh war can be. Not just on the battlefield but after you get home. This is all captured extremely well by the films lead actors. Who do an outstanding job of showing the toll that this is all taking on them. One thing that is apparent that helped with their performances was the attention to detail.
The films costume and production design is incredibly well conceived and convincing. Not only does this help the audience believe in what is happening but it helps every one on set. When you can see and interact with a real set or real costumes it can help push the film further into a sense of realism.
Not only that but the dialogue between the soldiers is incredibly well researched. All of this is so good in fact that it feels more like a documentary than a drama. But this is also where one of main complainants comes into play. The film is shot to give the illusion that it is a documentary.
This can be incredibly distracting. The majority of the shots are hand held and very shaky. Even when the film progresses into it's court room setting. If this was shot like an actual film instead of like a documentary near the end I would not be talking about this. But when you can't really see the main subject because the camera is moving so much it's hard not to get frustrated. Especially when the scene is in court room.
We don't need this. It's nothing more than extremely distracting and obnoxious. That being said the film as a whole is solid. It shows the cost of being a soldier on and off the battlefield. And that one misstep can lead to serious punishment. It's very well performed and it's attention to detail is astonishing but some presentation issues and a very clumsy first half don't do 'A War' any favors.
It's unfortunate that the rest of the film isn't this impactful. After this we follow the men for another hour or so and nothing like that first scene happens again. In fact it almost forgets that it ever happened with in ten or so minutes. I'm not asking that the entire film be a nonstop, disturbing, in your face action film.
But I would have liked to see the film maintain any kind of consistency. It shows quickly how uneasy just walking around can be but this sense of unrest almost immediately wears off. It proceeds to become a regular old war movie just like any other we have seen. It made sitting through the first half almost a chore.
There where a couple of great scenes thrown in there but it was mostly predictable and uneven. The best parts of the movie happen in it's latter half. Where our commander is being put on trial after ordering an airstrike on a Taliban soldiers. Come to find out, there weren't just Taliban in there. No, women and children where also among the dead.
Once this information is discovered he is accused of not following protocol which lead to their deaths. This is where the film really blossoms. It is able to show that war isn't just fought out there. But soldiers often have to fight in court rooms where they can potentially go to prison for a simple lapse in judgment.
It really is able to put into prospective how harsh war can be. Not just on the battlefield but after you get home. This is all captured extremely well by the films lead actors. Who do an outstanding job of showing the toll that this is all taking on them. One thing that is apparent that helped with their performances was the attention to detail.
The films costume and production design is incredibly well conceived and convincing. Not only does this help the audience believe in what is happening but it helps every one on set. When you can see and interact with a real set or real costumes it can help push the film further into a sense of realism.
Not only that but the dialogue between the soldiers is incredibly well researched. All of this is so good in fact that it feels more like a documentary than a drama. But this is also where one of main complainants comes into play. The film is shot to give the illusion that it is a documentary.
This can be incredibly distracting. The majority of the shots are hand held and very shaky. Even when the film progresses into it's court room setting. If this was shot like an actual film instead of like a documentary near the end I would not be talking about this. But when you can't really see the main subject because the camera is moving so much it's hard not to get frustrated. Especially when the scene is in court room.
We don't need this. It's nothing more than extremely distracting and obnoxious. That being said the film as a whole is solid. It shows the cost of being a soldier on and off the battlefield. And that one misstep can lead to serious punishment. It's very well performed and it's attention to detail is astonishing but some presentation issues and a very clumsy first half don't do 'A War' any favors.