Truth in Restrepo

Restrepo to me is an interesting documentary.  It shows the American soldiers in the Korangal Valley, but it does not show the other side of the conflict.  I believe that the Hetherington and Junger wanted to make the documentary as truthful and objective as possible.  They are trying to portray the truth of the war and shed light on the experiences of the American soldiers.  Although it accomplishes at showing what the Korangal Valley could be like, I think it failed at being objective and showing the whole truth about the situation.  I don’t think that they accomplished without telling both sides of the story.  They attempted to do this when they showed the soldiers talking to the villagers, but there was a language barrier in the way of clear communication.  By showing these scenes, they were attempting to show another side.  However, I think that Hetherington and Junger failed at trying to show the other side of the story because they were always in the presence of the American soldiers.  If they filmed the citizens by themselves (with a translator) and asked them direct questions like they did with the American soldiers, then it would have been less biased.  It was clear that the citizens did not completely understand why the Americans were there and did not like that we were there in Korangal Valley.  I think that the villagers’ frustrations and opinions would have been conveyed more and have a greater impact in the film if the audience saw the villagers’ side of the story (interviewed without American soldiers).