The Volunteers

This is an amazing documentary, the story of an LA surfer who risks his life and his personal happiness back home to help the Kurds in Syria battle ISIS by joining a small team of medics from Western countires.

There's something unusually raw and immediate about the real-life battle sequences. Probably because the fighters depicted are not regular US military, and don't have the same training and mannerisms.

They can be joking around while bullets are wizzing over their heads. Everything is improvised; the usual military structure is absent. If comrades get in trouble, they have to make their own ethical decisions about risking their lives to rescue them. No commander is there to give them orders. It humanizes them more completely and raises the stakes when you realize that any one of them can be dead at any time.

We don't get a lot of context, though. Some other Americans appear, as fighters, not medics, but they don't seem to be part of the US military, which does have a presence in the region.

Do these people ever coordinate or communicate with the US military? Are the Westerners breaking their countries' laws to be there? If they get in trouble, can they call their embassy for help? (Which becomes a germane question near the end of the story.)

Note that since this documentary was made, in 2017, the Kurds have been very successful, and ISIS has been driven into a few remnant pockets. Given recent developments in Syria, a follow up documentary would be valuable.

It's taken me this long to watch it simply because it's hard to find, but it's on Kanopy now (free/ad free, you just need a library card.)

Gruesome footage. Questionable motives from Hagg. Did he really go to tell the stories of Syrians?

Screenplay...................................... 3 / 10 Interviews........................................ 2 Visuals................................................ 7 Sound................................................... 3 Editing................................................ 2 Music....................................................... 1 Timeless Utility................................. 6 Total.................................................... 24 / 70 ~= 3.4 (which I rounded to 3) Verdict................................................. Avoid.

I'm not sure I have words to express the plethora of emotions I experienced while watching this harrowing documentary. It makes all those GoPro videos of sky divers and wave riders seem utterly ridiculous. Think of all the found footage/point of view movies you've seen. At first, your brain won't let you believe this is real life. Eventually, you come to realize it is real, and the horror of war is upon you, in your face and in your brain. This is happening OUT THERE right now, as you sit in front of your computer screen or on your phone, there are people fighting, and dying, and we are getting a front row seat to the insanity.

I am not sure how I feel about River Rainbow. Is he a hero for developing this project, for the work he did, for the lives he saved? Or is he a jerk for leaving his family, his long suffering wife, and his babies, forcing them to fend for themselves while he chased his dream? I figure he's a little of both. In the end, this documentary is jaw dropping and awe inspiring. It's a must-see. A must-talk-about- afterwards. A piece of work that makes you realize how shameful complaining about the traffic is or how cool it is to have the new $1000 iPhone. Watch this documentary, and let it sink into your bones. The feeling won't soon go away, and truthfully, it shouldn't.

Well done, sir. Well done.

I find myself, having just finished watching this film, feeling blessed beyond measure. I live my life, in comfort and ease. So few worries. SO do these volunteer medics, until they leave of their own accord and volunteer in the midst of war, with no benefits, no pay, nothing. Just a set of memories that will both haunt and comfort them. Memories of those who could not be saved, and those who were.

The storyteller brought us in through his eyes and shared the story without blinders, but with the blinding truth. I will be forever changed by what I saw.

"One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic" - Josef Stalin

Everyday in 2016-2018 you could turn on the news and hear about an explosion maiming civilians in Syria. Nameless figures suffering atrocities are a common facet of our media and it's easy to forgive apathy. Seeing this documentary adds faces, names, stories to these poor souls. This documentary shows a borderline-suicidal journey to being a combat medic in Syria. This movie is unfiltered; I shudder to think about the horrors we are spared if it is filtered. The editing is compelling and the pace is the perfect mix of action and suspense.