Armadillo

This documentary about war in Afghanistan is simply a "masterpiece" by Janus Metz Pedersen. It covers a 6-month period of the lives of Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, showing us the daily life of a soldier in this war. It also shows the side of the local civilian people of Afghanistan, the way their lives are spoiled by this war and mostly by the way that the foreign powers are acting there. Local people are desperate by a war that not only offers nothing to them but also kills their families and makes them suffer even more.

Unique photography. Great camera handling. Non-biased and truthful.

90 minutes full of reality and sentiment at the same time.

DON'T MISS IT.

Premiering at Cannes 2010 and winning the Critics Week Grand Prize, Armadillo is a documentary that's surprising hard to be treated like one, with its picturesque cinematography of an ongoing warzone in Afghanistan from the titular forward operating base that's home to almost 300 British and Danish troops, and with a host of character soldiers that boggle the mind to know that they are not scripted, because in many scenes the narrative does look as if there's someone who had put in a lot of work with the devil in the details. Which is what makes it a startling film to sit through from start to finish, especially if one had served in the armed forces before.

We follow a platoon of Danish troops who get sent to Armadillo for their 6 months tour of duty, beginning with the sending off from their hometown, where it's natural for friends and especially family to struggle in coming to terms with their loved ones leaving home to fight another man's war in a faraway land, especially so when the threat is very real and the soldiers are headed for the frontline. From then on it's getting acquainted with a number of characters especially that of Mads Mini, a Nicklas Bendtner lookalike, and an Asian medic, amongst others such as the fearless platoon commander.

As mentioned, this documentary is so expertly filmed that it looks very much a fictional narrative, which it isn't. For instance, to the viewer it's hard to reconcile, not that it's a bad thing of course, how the troopers here seem more like characters rather than real people (kudos to the editing), and constantly brings to mind whether director Janus Metz Pedersen and his camera crew had to be embedded with the soldiers constantly during their dangerous missions in order to get the footage they obtained so up close, with the obvious element and sense of danger, exactly how and where they had to be around and yet not getting in the way should the soldiers get engaged by enemy gunfire, and not to forget that bullet rounds cannot differentiate film crew from soldiers.

We get to go behind the scenes of this high-tech army (which I think SAF is trying to emulate with the 3G capabilities on display here), their professionalism even when the call of duty means mundane, incident free patrols of the surrounding areas of their camps, getting acquainted with their rules of engagement, and being very much in tune to life in a secured barracks, with their involvement pretty much in defensive ops to try and win over the hearts and minds of the local Afghan community. It isn't easy since they're being viewed as the enemy still, and more so when they go about their burly ways of trampling onto crops, or worse, to cough up compensation when things go awry, from the destruction of crops, livestock and property, to the more serious loss of innocent lives by way of being collateral damage in any offensive operations.

It opens up insights as to how tense a situation can be when one is out there in the field where anyone, by way of the people's dressing, could be more than meets the eye, weapons properly hidden away, not knowing who's friend and who's foe since everyone's intent is pretty much walled away through the inability to communicate directly without an interpreter, and where loyalties still lie with the Taliban otherwise the villagers will be subjected to cruel torture once the Danish troopers leave. Improvised Explosive Devices also litter the landscape, and can be planted easily overnight by the enemy such that no trodden path can always be absolutely safe. All these play a part in the mental well-being of anyone having to live it up on a high alert status, with most events being much ado about nothing. Think of Jarhead, and you'd come to understand better what life on site would be like.

You get to learn things as well from a soldiering standpoint with the experience these troops undergo, besides rushing to wait and waiting to rush, understanding how important or more significant the success of diplomacy is on the ground, and to read tell tale signs of enemy presence when civilians start to abandon their land to get out of the way of a major fire fight. Those worried that there are no action in this film can be rest assured, although the gun fights are never as glorified as what you've seen in war films, with the great unknown on enemy identities and locations being a constant pain, and a pivotal moment in this film involved conquering the enemy, but in the real world rarely does one get to walk into the sunset. It's a little controversial since the filmmakers captured an aftermath that won't go down well with any civilian, but for those who have been in those uniformed shoes before, it's nothing that far fetched when one gets caught up in euphoria (stemming from being alive or dead).

In every theatre of war we get to know how soldiers who return never really go back to their selves before their tour of duty, and looking at the group in focus, that again is quite true with perspectives being changed from harrowing experiences gained, epitomized by Mads Mini who started off looking for adventure, but probably got more than he bargained for, returning a more sombre person than one seeking thrills. If it's an up close and personal look at a modern day active warfront, you can't get any closer with a more nuanced feel of being there and having done that, with Armadillo. Highly recommended!

What would make a young man who has just completed a harrowing and brutal six month tour of duty in Afghanistan decide to return for another stint? The answer to that question is puzzling, but it is made a bit clearer by Janus Metz' powerful documentary Armadillo, Gran Prix winner at the Critics Week competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Armadillo, like Restrepo, is named for the military base where the subjects are stationed. The film depicts the bravery and camaraderie and also the addictive high of several Danish soldiers, seemingly just out of their teens, that comes from their participation in the war in Afghanistan.

Edited by Per K. Kirkegaard, Metz follows the soldiers from their farewell party at home filled with naked strippers to their arrival at base camp, moments of relaxation, briefings by their superiors, times of boredom, and the combat that includes some stomach turning sequences. The camera seems to be ever present and it hardly seems like an understatement to say that the director and cinematographer Lars Skee's lives were as much at risk as the soldiers. The film also demonstrates the plight of the villagers who are afraid of Taliban retribution if they cooperate with coalition forces. Caught in the middle, the Afghan civilians suffer greatly, standing to lose their crops, their animals, and their lives either from NATO forces or from the Taliban.

What makes it even more distressing, as the film points out, the soldiers cannot distinguish between friend and foe. When one of the soldiers accidentally kills a young girl, all that can be offered is compensation while the Platoon commander tells the soldier that did the killing to shrug it off because these things happen every day. The camera-work is up close and personal and the horrors of war perhaps have never had such an immediate impact. We can see the look on a young soldier's face after he has just been shot and we see decapitated Taliban bodies being pulled from a ditch.

While the film takes no position either pro-war or anti-war, the inhumanity of war has never been shown more clearly and the soldiers boasting and laughter after obliterating a wounded enemy while high on adrenaline, caused considerable debate about appropriate military behavior back home in Denmark. Depending on your point of view the soldiers are either making a difference or perpetuating atrocities in an unwinnable war. What does become clear, however, is the bond formed by the men and their lack of questioning of their mission. Like adolescents on a drunken rampage, they are excited by the thrill of the moment. We owe Metz a debt of gratitude for showing us the mindless, sadistic, and dehumanizing behavior that war can induce. Armadillo stands as one of the most visceral and frightening documentaries about combat ever made.

The war documentary Armadillo shows both the fragile and the hard side of the Danish soldiers in Afghanistan, and it shows how the Danish soldiers develop black humor in order to get a distance from the serious war. It is furthermore realistic and objective and it will certainly start an important social debate. It is striking how much this war looks like the Vietnam war. The movie also debates what a war hero is. Where shall we draw the line? Are you a hero if you shoot some Talebans? Apparently yes. It also shows that this war is very hard to the civilians, and that they are trapped between two sides. If they help the "intruders" aka the USA, Denmark and so on then Taleban will come after them, but if they help Taleban, then the "intruders" will come after them. Though the film is serious it also contains "epic" boyish fun so to speak, and that gives an extra facet to the movie. Armadillo is an utmost relevant movie, and therefore it is a must-see!

I went to see this movie with my mother. We come from Slagelse, the city where Gardehusarregimentet is situated, ie. the place of the danish camp from which these soldiers came from.

Previously I have been stationed abroad with the military so I know a bit about the situation. I also know that my mother was worried all the time I was away, so I figured she would appreciate the movie. And she did.

The movie is at times fun, but most of the time it's simply depicting the life I got to know. Lots of boring days, waiting for something to happen. It shows the exact same kind of stereotypes I saw myself, the quiet one, the gung-ho type, the smart-ass etc. I quickly tuned into the whole scenario.

Armadillo might not be a masterpiece technically, but if you can stomach seeing it and NOT getting a lump in your throat, you're either without feelings or not alive. I remember the day I was going to ship off, the last conversation with my mom. And I was in my late 20s. Some of these boys are in their early 20s and far from mature.

We get to see how the "hot" situations are down there and that is fine. But I would have liked more about their everyday boring life. Sure, it might not make for the most interesting movie material, but you don't get the exact picture of just how boring it can be too.

Apart from that, a very well made movie.

Oh and the controversy of the soldiers killing (lethally) wounded Talebans? I would have done the same thing. And I am almost a pacifist. I might not agree with the fact that we're shipping off people there still, but I agree with how the people down there reacts.