Customer Reviews

Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience

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I think I've been socially hardened by documentaries that don't show all sides of a story, or instill the documentary-makers' opinions or images (see Sicko) in place of what should be being told.

So it is with a heavy sigh of relief that I wholeheartedly recommend this Academy Award nominated documentary, OPERATION HOMECOMING: WRITING THE WARTIME EXPERIENCE.

First let's look at why this film is so successful. It's fresh. Most war writings are done by established or well-groomed writers, giving them decent syntax, etc., but lacking that up-close and personal process that goes along with firing weapons and being fired at during war. And this is where Operation Homecoming succeeds. The writings are all firsthand accountings from soldiers who've walked the walk and talked the talk.

Secondly is the unique filming. Each segment contains a different milieu and a different style of filming. From animation to quick-flash photography of those that've given their lives, the stories are told in a highly interesting fashion that keeps the viewer very interested.

Thirdly is the internal conflict that so easily comes across. From the beginning of the film when soldiers discuss their upbringing from childhood and being told killing is wrong, to being thrown into a situation where you're trained to kill for "God and Country," the film watcher understands the conundrum these men and women are put into.

The final successful element is the men and women themselves and how they deal with tough situations. There's never the "Why am I here" question asked. They know why they're there. They don't care about policy or partisan politics or money or oil. They care about the guy to their left and right who's protecting their backside during a fire-fight.

Each `chapter' (if you will) contains a title and the story of a soldier. From the grunts on the ground, to the medic flying the injured to Germany, to the honor guard who sees the dead to their final resting place, Operation Homecoming is truly a unique gem in the documentary genre.

This is one of the three documentaries about Iraq that were nominated for the "Best DoOcumentary Feature" Academy Award. All three films were riveting, but this one is the most personal, the most touching and the most artistic. You meet the authors in interviews, and find out their background story, as well as what prompted them to write about their experiences. Famous actors then read that writing as the filmmakers illustrate the stories in a variety of different ways....still photography, animation, footage shot by soldiers, etc. This film is visually compelling and emotionally powerful; non-partisan; human. It simply tells some of the stories of the men and women who serve - what they see, what they feel, and what they experience. The film is poetic, beautiful and should be seen by every American, regardless of political affiliation.

Regardless of one's politics, it's important for all of us to understand what our troops and families have and are going through in our war on terrorism and appreciate the sacrifices, big and small, they've all made. The book of the same name was a touchstone for tapping into the minds of those whose stories made into this collection. From first hand accounts on the frontlines, to those who've aided, both medically and psychologically, to the final trip and tribute a Marine officer gives to his fallen comrade the dvd picks up where the book leaves off, offering us a slendid visual potpourri; from live action film to stills to a loose animation, almost storyboarding of events as seen through the eyes of a young soldier. It is a film that leaves one wanting more and wanting to revisit the film again and again.

"It is a false notion that we have to recover from everything. Some things are unhealable." --U.S. Army Sgt. Prior

This worthy recent Best Documentary Oscar nominee has a wealth of material and presentation as several veterans of the present Iraq and other American Wars delve deeply into their feelings and reflections of what it is like to be a soldier. Mixing some animation, quotations, actual war footage, and interviews with the actual authors, several actors make their inner journey tangible by reading their texts. 'Operation Homecoming,...' is an accessible inner journey of the lives of soldiers. Poignant and transporting.

(Featuring quotes by Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, and Philip Caputo, et al. Interviews include Anthony Swofford as well as several other vets from previous wars, reflecting upon fear, responsibility, guilt, pride, loss, and boredom from the resulting wars. Also featuring Robert Duvall and Aaron Eckhart, et al, reading select texts.)

This may be the only Iraq war movie you ever see without an ax to grind.

The soldiers tell their stories.

People of any opinion can watch this movie.

Would that we had more like them.

In this video the voices of war ring clear. One writer, a Vietnam vet, says that it is a decadent society which sends it's sons and daughters to war, but is not willing to hear their stories, or to see what they have lived through. I agree. Buy this DVD, watch it and then pass it on to someone else, or donate it to your public library. It is a small price to pay.

This DVD contains only a few of the powerful stories from the book by the same name. Buy the book, too.

If war brings the unexpected, this was one of those experiences for the authors who were sent to Iraq to teach workshops to the troops. They found the common fighting man and women could write with prose that made their own pale in comparison. These are their words, their videos, their boredom, and their guilt. It is their attempt to make sense of a senseless situation that challenges a soldier's values, emotions, reality, and equilibrium.

All the nobility of war is shattered when convoys must run over little children sent in their paths by Iraqi irregulars to stop them, so they can get a clearer shot. Guilt, overriding, permeating guilt that will sear the mind for a lifetime appears in one moment of action, one decision, one hesitation to act. Boredom, unrelenting, for hours that turns into days. What is there to do? Cards, wrestling, boxing, reading, sleeping and writing. Action relieves the bonds of ennui, only to realize that the friend you went out with, didn't come back. Humor, a salve against reality and fear, comes in spontaneous spurts. It provides a relief from guilt and boredom.

Training teaches men to do what they have learned a lifetime not to do--to kill, without thought, without feeling. Training and values come into conflict. Training wins, barely. It brings out hatred for the enemy that killed a friend, or the hatred that comes from having made the decision to kill. They hate the victim for making them do the unthinkable. The war with oneself begins. It will never end. There will be no morphine to make it go away. There will never be victory against the onslaught of thoughts that will assault the self and its well-being.

The non-combatants fare no better. They will lie to the dying trooper of the 101st Airborne who asks why his feet are cold. The medic tells him there is swelling that causes poor circulation. The toes on one foot are gone. He rationalizes; he hasn't been entirely dishonest. He gives him a smile that says he will be okay. The trooper is relieved. They will change dressings from wounds that fester, that smell, that have pus and sand, that repels them, that makes them feel guilt for their own revulsion. They want the wounded to stop coming, if only they will stop coming, but they don't.

Soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, veterans reflect on their experiences, the reality that "the world," civilians and home, have no idea what they went through, mortal moments that cannot be explained, the disillusion that their near-death experiences went unreported, were unheard of.

This black and white film, well-narrated by Robert Duvall and Stacey Keech, brings to life the experiences of veterans from World War II to the present. Their writing, their videos, and cartoons, revealed their own way of dealing with the life and death that surrounded them. Their decision to avenge a nation or defend it, to save the world or bring democracy, dissolves in the first concussion from the mortar round that falls too close. It becomes dependence on your friend to ensure your survival, as you ensure his. It is not about a nation's pride, but the wrenching fear that jolts the entire body with a feeling of impotence, terror and adrenaline.

There are also pictures of those that do not speak. Almost all are smiling faces or martial poses in dress blues, West Point Cadet Gray, battle dress, nuptials, fathers or mothers holding spouses or children, high school pictures and anniversaries. They are the reminders of people who once lived, who live now only in memories.

This one hour and twenty minute experience is sobering, and is recommended for viewing by anyone considering taking up arms and going in harm's way. It's message is apolitical. It's message is that war is futile and destructive beyond measure to the body and the human spirit, that coming home without scars is irrational, that coming home with them is human but destructive.

Perhaps stories like this, are the only good that can come from war. If you have to miss one, miss war, and see this instead.




Also Recommended:

"Taking Chance" on DVD

"Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" is an Oscar-nominated documentary made up almost entirely of journal entries and poems written by soldiers and marines in combat. Operation Homecoming was a program developed by the National Endowment For the Arts in which distinguished authors were sent to military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan to teach soldiers and their families how to capture their experiences of war on paper. Ultimately, thousands of pages worth of personal reflections, in the form of essays, anecdotes and poems, were submitted to the project, only a very small handful of which could, by necessity, find their way into this film.

If nothing else, "Operation Homecoming" serves as an invaluable tool documenting what life is like for the common fighting man toiling in the trenches of not only these two specific wars but of any armed conflict. Notably absent from the film are statements and speeches made by military strategists, politicians and world leaders whose views we hear expressed ad infinitum and ad nauseam throughout the course of any military action. In their place are the thoughts and words of the men and women on the front lines, who day after day confront the actual face of war.

Through their essays and poems, these authors convey, with tremendous eloquence and insight, just what it means to live in near-constant fear of being injured or killed; or to see one's friends and comrades fall under a hail of bullets or be blown to smithereens by a detonated explosive; or to wrestle with the guilt of having snuffed out a fellow human being's life despite the fact that you've been raised from infancy to believe killing is wrong. As have many authors before them (Stephen Crane in "The Red Badge of Courage" comes first to mind), some of these writers show how the heroic idealism of a pre-war mindset can be instantly shattered when confronted with the brutal reality of life on the battlefield. For some, the writing has become almost a form of therapy, allowing them to process the experience in the hopes of eventually coming to terms with it all - if that`s even possible.

The movie provides battle footage, still photos, staged reenactments and animation sequences, along with interviews with the actual writers and other authors on the subject (i.e., Anthony Swofford, Tobias Wolff) to visually complement and supplement the readings, which are delivered respectfully and movingly by such trained actors as Robert Duvall, Beau Bridges and Aaron Eckhart.

But all is not pure, unrelieved grimness. There is also a bit of gallows humor in the writing, designed to alleviate not only the stress of combat but the long stretches of intense boredom that are also, paradoxically, a part of life in the field. Indeed, there is probably not a single aspect of combat life that is not touched upon at some point in this film. It's that comprehensive.

This movie takes the issue out of the realm of the abstract, clearing away all the jingoism and false bravado that often go into depictions of war. These are just real people telling us their real stories in their own words, and some of them are absolutely heartbreaking. Through its honesty and artistry, the film becomes a stirring tribute to each and every one of the fine young men and women who have risked their lives - and given their lives - in battle. No matter your personal feelings about these particular wars or of war in general, you won't look at any of it in quite the same way again after seeing "Operation Homecoming."

And if you find yourself weeping - which you inevitably will - through the course of the film, you can do so without shame.

Yes, we have heard it all... seen it all... lived it all before. Yes, this is another "war documentary" that shows firsthand what it is like. But this time the producers have hit on an entirely fresh, new, novel method of sharing it... of communicating it. And in so doing, it becomes fresh... raw... new... almost as if for the first time we are learning what it is like inside the head of those who are there.... Well worth the watching....

Marc Waszkiewicz
Viet Nam veteran
Bremerton, Washington

Sad and emotional. A look at war through innocent eyes and broken hearts. One every American should watch.