If World War I was “the war to end all wars” then Warfare ought to be marketed as the war film to end all war films. It’s that good.
It’s not really a “war film” in the standard sense – though it’s most definitely a film about warfare; in this case urban warfare in Iraq in 2006. And it’s not really an “action film” – though there is plenty of visceral action in the shape of guns and explosions and blood and body parts.
Eventually.
The abiding memory is of the waiting, and warfare consists largely of long periods of inactivity interspersed with brief periods of hyperactivity; much like the process of film-making itself.
Written and directed by Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza, an Iraq veteran who was his military technical advisor on Civil War, Warfare accurately conveys the unbearable tension of being uninvited guests in a hostile land, armed to the teeth and licensed to kill or be killed.
It accurately captures the anxiety-inducing suspense of young men depending on each other for their lives, knowing that in this situation every movement, every sound, every shadow represents potential danger.
And, amid all that, the conflicting knowledge that while you’re ostensibly there to save their lives, every stranger in this strange land, wearing strange clothes and speaking a strange language, could kill you at any moment.
It’s a place where your life depends on your eyes and ears being at their sharpest at all times, and on your colleagues having your back at all times, and knowing that death can come at any time without warning.
Warfare captures the reality of that. Don’t just take my word for it: I went to the film with my friend Tom, a British infantry officer who served five tours of Iraq – including 2006 – and three of Afghanistan, and was invalided out with PTSD and CTE.
“It’s exactly like being there,” he confirmed as I emerged ashen-faced and shaken from the cinema. “Right down to the very last detail.” And right from the opening scene: the aerobics video for Eric Prydz’s song Call On Me (about which I’ll say no more).
For further confirmation, the comments from Iraq veterans beneath the trailer on YouTube (below) offer more evidence. The sudden surprise of an IED exploding, and the instant devastation it causes, made Tom flinch as much as me.
“I’ve never seen a film that captures that so accurately,” he said – and he has witnessed those situations, where humans are torn apart and bloody limbs scattered like rubbish in the street.
It’s hard for me to say you must see this film, because it’s far from enjoyable – and it’s not meant to be – although Tom enjoyed it, largely because he misses being in situations like that; once a soldier always a soldier.
Yet you really should see it it you want to know what modern urban warfare is actually like, because we all need to know what it’s really like in order to remember the human cost, whatever the rights and wrongs, whatever the ethical and moral considerations of the conflict.
You certainly won’t forget it.