East is East - Knowledge Network

Storyville
Armadillo
Tuesday, September 27 at 9pm
Repeats at midnight
Director Janus Metz captures the horror and adrenaline
of warfare in his harrowing documentary Armadillo.
Named after a military base in Afghanistan, the
film follows a platoon of Danish soldiers through a
six-month tour of duty. Metz reveals the bravado of
the young men, the boredom of daily routine, and the
brutal reality of war when the soldiers kill a group of
Taliban insurgents. Avoiding judgments for or against
the war, the film shows the soldiers struggling to maintain
their humanity in a world filled with violence.
Filmmaker captures reality of war in Afghanistan
After premiering at Cannes in 2010, where it won the International Critics’ Week
award, Janus Metz’ documentary Armadillo created a furor in Denmark. It stemmed
from a scene that shows the soldiers’ reactions after a deadly firefight with the
Taliban. The outcry resulted in the entire country furiously debating its role in
Afghanistan.
Metz, who was embedded with the platoon for six months while filming, says he
wasn’t out to expose the soldiers, but to show an honest depiction of their experiences.
Following the soldiers out to the frontlines, cameras rigged to helmets, Metz
and cinematographer Lars Skee risked their lives to get the story.
“In the early research for the project, when I first met the young soldiers, I was
surprised that the majority of those who had already been to war had a desire to return,”
says Metz. “Their experiences were violent and bloody, but they all talked with great
excitement about battle and about the strong bonds and feelings of unity with their
fellow soldiers.
“Everyday life at home seemed to have become boring in comparison with the intensity
of war. It seemed like an addiction. This puzzled me to the extent that I wanted to
try and put myself in the soldiers’ shoes. Why do they want to go to war? Is it to change
the world and make a difference? Is it excitement? Personal ambitions? Is it something
else… and how do these things affect each other as well as the conflict at large?”
The motivations of the soldiers and their actions may be hard for “outsiders” – those
who haven’t been on the battlefield – to understand, but in making the film, Metz gives
us an idea of what war is really like: how perceptions of right and wrong shift with the
brutality of the situation. Whether or not we can pass judgement is another question.
Danish filmmaker Janus Metz
SEPT/OCT 2011 P RO G R A M G U I D E 7