Em Campo Minado

I can highly recommend this film to anyone who can handle the intensity of a gruesome war film. The film starts slow and is filled with typical tough guy war banter and then the intensity jumps dramatically as the film re-creates a real story for Afganistan where soldiers are trapped in a minefield. Gripping, intense, sad, fierce and powerful. It is not a political film, but will get you to think deeply about the wars of the middle East and how we fight them.

A very well made film that often feels like a documentary. Flawless filming and acting to make you feel there.

This film is NOT for everyone. This film is quite gruesome and captures the reality of land mines.

NOTE: The heavy British accents required us to turn on captions.

I wanted to score the film an 8.5, but upgraded to a 9 based on powerful filming, intensity, real-ness and solid acting.

Like most people with military experience I find conventional war films a bit irritating – Implausible plot lines and ridiculous dialogue along with inaccurate uniforms and weapons tend to detract from the overall impression. The recently released movie Kajaki – the true story is, in the exception to this trend, and an important contribution to the national mood of reflection on the Afghan conflict.

Every aspect of the film is grittily authentic, right down to the banter between the blokes, the detail on the T shirts and the tattoos.

The incident will be familiar to many – in 2006 a patrol from 3 Para stationed at the Kajaki dam wander inadvertently into a legacy minefield from the soviet era with the inevitable unpleasant consequences. What sets this film apart from the crowd is the complete lack of sanitised pastiche violence and a storyline that sticks as closely as possible to the known facts, having had access and co-operation from the surviving members of the patrol, if not from the MOD itself. The movie scrupulously avoids being drawn into discussions about the controversies of the Afghan campaign and the level of resources supplied to the deployed forces, preferring instead to focus completely on the individual soldiers and the events of the day.

As a surgeon with extensive experience of landmine injuries, I was hugely impressed with the level of detail in the depiction and treatment of the injuries and the completely unsentimental depiction of the actions that day. Writing in the Sun, Jeremy Clarkson explained that even though he had taken an interest in the Afghan conflict and had been out to see soldiers on deployment, he had absolutely no idea what the reality of battle and injury entailed until he saw the film. I am certain that many civilians and even some serving servicemen will feel the same after seeing the Kajaki movie.

Having been released at the same time as the annual ceremonies of remembrance and, co-incidentally, at the same time as the centenary of the First world war and the draw-down from Afghanistan, it is important to remind the UK population that war is not all about artistic installations at the Tower of London, beautiful though those may be. With the Army having the lowest headcount in over a century, the population it serves is more disconnected than ever from the military – Kajaki conveniently reminds everyone about the realities of conflict.

Dan Jarvis MP, himself a former Parachute Regiment officer brought up this very point at Defence Questions in the House of Commons and secured an assurance from the Defence Secretary that he would see the film in person. It should be required viewing for a far wider audience.

I was privileged to attend one of four UK regional charity premieres on Tuesday 25 November ahead of the UK general release at VUE Cinemas on Friday 28 November. Each premiere was located in or near the home town of one the soldiers portrayed in the film such that family and friends could attend, and where possible, the actual people portrayed on- screen too. Bristol is the home town of Stu Hale who was portrayed on- screen by Benjamin O'Mahony. Stu was present at the screening and answered questions with the cast and crew at the Q&A afterwards. A portion of all the ticket sales across the UK goes directly to charities supporting returning servicemen and servicewomen. This all speaks to the very special nature of this film. In his introduction before the screening, director Paul Katis described it as a modern war film. It is indeed, and it takes an honourably neutral view of the conflict. At its heart this is the true story of a group of extremely brave men facing a difficult situation.

The action takes place back in September 2006 in Afghanistan where a British army unit is responsible for the security at a key dam, which when fully commissioned, will provide hydroelectric power. Unbeknownst to them, the area is also home to a minefield left-over from the Soviet invasion in 1979/80. On a routine security patrol some of the unit find themselves trapped in the minefield when one of them is seriously injured after stepping upon a mine. Over the course of the film we get to learn more about the characters and see many examples of extraordinary bravery, all of which actually happened.

This is powerful storytelling and writer Tom Williams has crafted a screenplay which reflects the truth and helps the audience understand the complexities of the situation. It walks the difficult line between intense and life-threatening action vs. the humour which people can use as a coping mechanism in such situations. Director Paul Katis holds nothing back and the full horrors of war are on display here, including some graphic injuries. This is all done in a non-gratuitous way and is part of the brutal and uncomfortable honesty of the events.

I, along with the rest of the audience, sat on the edge of my seat and there are several moments of shocking surprise throughout this tense thriller. This is a film worth going to see in cinemas with an audience and at my screening several spontaneous rounds of applause broke out at key moments in the end credits. Highly recommended.

'Kajaki' is probably one of the most intense war movies you will ever watch. Having said this, note this is not a full-on war movie. Instead, this is dramatic events as a result of war.

The film is incredibly well made and realistic. Thus some of the scenes are almost unbearable to watch. 'Kajaki' is one of those rare films that are almost too well made to sit through thinking this is entertainment. It plays like a documentary - almost like a found footage tape, only its not found footage style. It is heart wrenching, cringe worthy, and also a sad reality. The acting was superb. The lack of CGI made it all that more realistic. The film also has no score. Most of the film is in absolute silence, which is highly effective and also very creative.

The dialogue features many codes and lingo I didn't understand. The dialogue was really strange, yet realistic, but very difficult to follow. Despite that, the film itself was easy enough to follow. The make-up is incredible! 'Kajaki' is a film you can't really describe to anyone - you have to experience it for yourself - maybe best viewed alone at least once. This certainly is a film I will remember for a very long time.

https://paulsmoviereviews.wordpress.com/2019/10/10/kajaki-kilo-two-bravo-2014/

I've never seen a movie capture what it is to be a soldier better. British, American or whatever. Watch this - it's history not a film.

There have been many films made about Afghanistan/Iraq over the last few years and they are all afforded a degree of Hollywood Licencing. The Hurt Locker being an excellent example, almost good but ruined by pandering to a less intelligent audience.

If I was asked to describe what being a soldier is I could only ever point to this film. There is nothing there that is overdone or underdone.

It just is what it is meant to be.