I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Janus Metz's documentary "Armadillo" focuses on a Danish platoon sent to Afghanistan. It drew controversy due to what was seen as the soldiers' violating the rules of engagement. But the main point is that this is what it's like to be in a war zone. The troops spend most of their time having either nothing to do (so they pass the time by watching internet porn) or having to shoot at attackers.What struck me was the opening sequence. It interviews one of the troops as well as his family. It must have been weird for him to grow up in peaceful Denmark and suddenly get sent to war-torn Afghanistan. Most importantly, the Afghans see pretty much any westerner as a colonizer.The movie doesn't moralize. It just lets us see what things are like for this platoon. The fact remains that war is hell. I'm sure that not even this documentary can show us the true horrors of the war zone that Afghanistan remains. But even so, I recommend it.

The only redeeming feature of this documentary is the scene with the Afghans, like when the kids talk to the Asian guy telling him to go home or when one Afghan man tells the Danish military that they have guns, the Taliban have guns but those who get killed are the civilians stuck between the warring sides. That to me is the main truth about modern warfare. In almost all the military conflicts nowadays around 80-90% of casualties are the civilians. That is what is really sick about modern wars. That and of course, the utter criminality of the whole thing.But instead the whole industry of movies about war and a good deal of literature all concentrate on the soldiers and their sufferings. And though, it is definitely possible to sympathize with the soldiers who have no choice but take arms to defend their homeland, it is hard to feel empathy for the Western youth who couldn't get a better job than go to a foreign land to kill people. This of course is always wrapped up in the heroic rhetoric but it is so thin and so obvious that there is nothing remotely enriching in this experience. You are there in the beautiful land with gorgeous mountains and you are just stuck at the base and can't even become real friends with locals. all you do is just blow up poor people's buildings, destroy their livelihood, and once in a while kill armed men or more often unarmed women and children.

Denmark has troops in Afghanistan. Here we follow a group of soldiers during their sex months in Taliban land. They are followed very closely by the camera man. In fact so close, that we duck together with him, when the machine gun fire starts.What's controversial here and has caused much debate in Denmark is the possibility of a war crime being committed, almost in front of our eyes. We can't judge, but we also see Danish soldiers being hurt and we follow the debriefing afterwards.The interesting thing is the loyalty conflict, which appears and which you will watch for yourself. Watch is war morality about? Anyway, these documentary takes us in every way nearer war conditions than most movies shown before, even from Vietnam.

Armadillo is a tour de force, reclaiming the pictures of war from the aseptic news rooms back to real fear, confusion and adrenaline that soldiers have to endure in a combat situation. The movie is captivating and demanding and certainly no easy experience for its audience. Still, it is worth it. Modern warfare and its embedded journalism has led to a distorted view of the public of what happens in war. Honestly, I thought such a frank documentation could only come from Europe. But now I heard from the American project "Restrepo". Really looking forward to this movie that sounds like a brother-in-arms to "Armadillo." There cannot be enough movies showing the cruelty and futility of war.