Armadillo, dans le piège afghan

This is hands down the best war documentary I have ever seen. Most of it is beautifully filmed and put together, and it is showing how things are. I am a civilian, with a big interest in these things, and had my attention drawn to this movie because it seemed to get a thumbs up from people in the military. It sure shows controversial things, but balances them all the way, and show us both the civilian side with their troubles, and the danish soldiers side. Even at its controversial high point after a shootout it stays very neutral, and as such is a masterpiece of showing people the daily life of a soldier. My only gripe is that I had wished it a little longer, with more scenes that show the boredom that such a place must surely be, when nothing is happening.

Reading reviews of this film, I noticed a lot of extreme praise, lauding this documentary as being perhaps, the "best war documentary ever made". With the praise so high, it is tempting therefore to look for the film to be the most dramatic, or visually compelling sight ever.

Looking at the film that way, it is quite possible that you will be disappointed. This is not because the film is bad, far from it, but rather, is because the film has distinct and particular strengths.

One of those strengths is paradoxically, the reasonably low casualty rate of of the protagonist unit, and reasonably low level of "blood and guts." Holding down the level of gore is very important because a lot of people watching war documentaries become too shocked and revolted to be able to draw much meaning from the film. This documentary shows enough for someone with little experience in such matters to be able to "get it" without being so shocked that the horror overwhelms everything else.

The second strength of this film is in its being in the right places at the right time to capture a good sense of events. In contrast to some reviewers, I cannot say that the photography is absolutely the best; an experienced war photographer might be able to film things better in combat, but the camera is at least, generally in the right place, and the confusion of war becomes something understandable to the audience.

The third big strength of this film is in capturing the way that morality for someone fighting a war is often experienced differently than a person who is not in that situation would expect. This is the outstanding feature of this documentary, and I am aware of no other that comes close to explaining this situation to a civilian or person unfamiliar with conflict.

The fourth strength of this documentary is in its capture of the boredom and frustrations of military service.

The upshot of all this is that "Armadillo" is a very informative film, and one that does a great deal to bridge the gap between civilians and the military. For all those guys who have been in the military, and who are frustrated by the fact that other people just don't "get it", this could be very useful.

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!

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.

Armadillo is a tour de force, reclaiming the pictures of war from the aseptic news rooms back to real fear, confusion and adrenaline that soldiers have to endure in a combat situation. The movie is captivating and demanding and certainly no easy experience for its audience. Still, it is worth it. Modern warfare and its embedded journalism has led to a distorted view of the public of what happens in war. Honestly, I thought such a frank documentation could only come from Europe. But now I heard from the American project "Restrepo". Really looking forward to this movie that sounds like a brother-in-arms to "Armadillo." There cannot be enough movies showing the cruelty and futility of war.