Where Soldiers Come From | Review

Docs about the current Afghan war and the poor young men that enlist to serve in it are not surprisingly overly similar. Barely out of their teenage years, they sign up not really knowing what they are getting themselves into, and once they end up over in the sandy mountains of Afghanistan, hoping they don’t get shot or blown to bits, they wish they hadn’t fallen for the $20,000 sign on bonus. They try to find distractions to take their mind off of their task, and even find humanity in the local kids that have yet to abandon their innocence to take their post in the poverty stricken cycle of life of adult Afghans. After they’ve either been injured or have been lucky enough to complete their tour unscathed, they arrive home to an alien small town they once called home. The extreme stress they’ve been put under has deeply effected their mental stability, and they can no longer function as normal everyday Americans. Director Heather Courtney’s newest docu, Where Soldiers Come From, follows this same storyline just as Hell and Back Again and to a lesser extent, Poster Girl has within the 2011 calendar film year. Courtney’s film doesn’t have the life threatening camera work and visual flair of Hell and Back Again, nor does it have an abundance of drama either, but the emotions still run high through the eyes of the young soldiers and their apprehensive families.

Following the lives of a small group of friends from the northern tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula who joined the National Guard as a group, the doc details them just after leaving high school through to the conclusion of their eventual tour in Afghanistan. Dom, Cole, and Bodi signed up for the cold hard cash, hoping that after their 6 years of part time service they’d have found some direction in life. Understandably, their families and girlfriends become increasingly worried about their loved ones as their deployment date creeps closer.

The young men are to find and destroy improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and their training warns them of the seriousness of the situation they are about to be embedded in. These can be found anywhere, in roads, fields, you name it, and they are planted by villagers that have been forced to do so by threatening Taliban members. Each of the boys have close calls with the bombs, and each is deeply effected by the events. Once the tour is over, the boys instantly have trouble adjusting back into normal life. Cole goes back to school, but lacks the focus necessary to be successful. Bodi, who sustained multiple concussions on duty, is anger stricken, and forced to seek medical help for his psyche. Dom, who was in a truck that literally exploded during his tour, has managed to direct his frustrations about the war into his artwork, which is being nurtured by his understanding art professor. All three of them wrestle with their decisions to join the military. None of them went in really wanting to be a soldier in the first place, and all of them came out feeling that the war itself was completely pointless. It has affected their lives in a negative way, and they feel it is doing the same to the Afghans that they invaded.

The film tells an anti war story from the perspective of these men, but it is also the story of how war effects the families that are left stateside, worried sick about their sons, brothers, lovers and friends. They constantly imagine the worst, every phone call or door bell ring is a heart-stoping act. They anxiously await to Skype with their loved ones to see and hear that they are still alive and well. Courtney presents both sides of the story with empathetic balance through graceful editing, and an animated cast. Everyone involved in the film is generously candid, not unwilling to shed a tear or say what they really feel. It is in this that the film finds its stride. Their stories have been told before, but Dom, Cole, Bodi and their families are fascinating specimens with unique relationships. Where Soldiers Come From sets out to explore why young men join the military in the face of a raging war, and how their decisions effect the families they will leave behind, but the film’s timing is unfortunate due to its similarities to other recently released war docs. Though this is true, it stands on its own, proud of its subjects for their bravery, but regretful for their sacrifices.

Rating 3 stars