Rating:  

Documentary Featuring Nathan Harris and Ashley Harris.
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Director: Danfung Dennis
Rating: Unrated (Equivalent to an R)
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Release Date: October 5, 2011
Home Video Release Date: January 24, 2012
Box Office: $37 Thousand
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New Video and Docurama Films.

Remember the name of Danfung Dennis. On Tuesday, January 24, 2012, Dennis became a first-time Oscar nominee when his stunning documentary Hell And Back Again made Oscar’s final nomination list. Whether he wins or not, and at the time of this writing it still remains to be seen, but as a filmmaker – a first-time filmmaker no less – he has undeniable gifts and talents in telling a harrowing story in a unique and disarmingly honest way. Dennis relies on his experiences as an embedded war journalist and cinematographer and in his first film, he introduces us to a soldier named Nathan Harris.

We learn at the very beginning of Hell And Back Again that Marine Sgt. Nathan Harris served as a member of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment and was forced into taking over the Regiment when his commanding officer, Lance Corporal Seth Sharp was shot and killed in a Taliban ambush. Just days before 2nd Battalion are to return home from their deployment, Sgt. Harris endures a devastating gunshot wound which calls into question whether he will ever be able to walk again. At the end of his deployment, Sgt. Harris is returning home to North Carolina to be his wife and high school sweetheart, Ashley, and a life back home he never could have envisioned.

Danfung Dennis became friends with Nathan Harris during his embed and Harris agreed to allow Dennis to document his return home. Harris’ trust in Dennis is obvious and Dennis goes with Nathan and Ashley, capturing Harris’ trips to doctors, his new and reconfigured home life, the strain of all of this on the young couple, and one other difficult and alarming reality – Nathan’s increasing dependence and addiction to pain medication and prescription drugs.

Countless films have attempted to define the war experience – on its soldiers, the families of those who are killed in combat, and those who have survived and outlived unspeakable horror. Rare is the film that goes this deep, pulls the curtain back this far, and reveals so much. Nathan Harris desperately wants to come home to a “normal” life but a machine-gun bullet’s destruction of his hip and near severing of his right leg made that next to impossible. Ashley has Nathan home, but a different Nathan than she has ever seen. He wants to go back but cannot. He plays “Halo” and other shoot-and-kill video games. He is stuck at home, largely at first, unsure if he will ever walk again. He visits friends at the base and is uncomfortably caught between humility and a momentary celebrity status when he discusses his injuries. And he and Ashley argue and fight. And he begs for drugs. And he is easily agitated and his personality seems different. Is this Nathan Harris?

Dennis is so deeply invested in this story and what he has personally experienced that he and his editor Fiona Otway have masterfully created a documentary which employs the more traditional flashback and sensory-based editing techniques you find in fictionalized filmmaking. Sounds from the home life trigger footage from the war zone in Afghanistan and because Dennis was with Harris in both the combat of war and the combat of adjusting to home life, he intercuts those two worlds beautifully. At times, watching Hell And Back Again is captivating, not simply for the subject matter, but on how technically accomplished a film this truly is. As a fan of documentaries, admittedly most of them follow a traditional approach at telling its story. Hell And Back Again is not traditional in any conceivable way, but in striving for originality, Dennis never loses tone or focus. The insight he gives us is unparalleled.

There are two extremely hard visual moments in Hell And Back Again on the battlefield which offer a jolting bookend to the film. The death of Lance Corporal Sharp is never shown, but sequences in trying to save him are heartwrenching, while late in the film, an Afghani is bisected from gunshot wounds and the Marines allow a fellow Afghani to see his fallen friend one last time. These images are not used for exploitation but are honest and brutal and ugly and for some, will be almost too much to handle. I mention these moments simply to say that my visceral reaction to them stuck with me for days and even remain as I publish this review. Imagine what Nathan Harris and the countless thousands of combat soldiers and veterans have seen, processed, and experienced. Two images, comprising perhaps a mere minute of screen time combined, bother us distressingly. Imagine being around it every single day.

Full of energy and excitement and vitality on the battlefield and with his fellow Marines, we get a glimpse of the man Ashley Harris fell in love with and married. Even in his new life at home, we see glimpses of it as well. However, we also see him confused while shopping in a grocery store, unable to figure out his prescriptions, randomly flying off the handle, and his wife tearfully, and almost shamefully it seems, admitting that she is overwhelmed. Hell And Back Again is not an anti-war film, the agenda is not to criticize or shame our military’s efforts. Danfung Dennis’ film simply lets us into the lives of one injured soldier, his family, and his fight – on the battlefield, in his home, and within himself.

Should I See It?

An important and necessary essay into the effects war can have on our brave men and women who face combat and serve in the Military. Although friends with the Harris’, Danfung Dennis remains impartial and simply documents the schizophrenia that Nathan has to marry between a war zone in Afghanistan and a new war zone in his own home, with his wife and family. As insightful as anything you will find.

Danfung Dennis is one incredibly skilled and impressive filmmaker. His intuitiveness in telling Nathan Harris’ story is breathtaking and the work from editor Fiona Otway is as good as you will ever see. Artistically presented, uniquely told, this is as far from pretentiousness as you can get, while still playing with typical storytelling conventions.

Those fascinated by soldiers and what they endure to serve this country will need to see this movie.

As indicated above, two scenes (one at the beginning and one near the end) are not for the squeamish and present two ugly images of war and the horror of what war means. Those who cannot stand stark and unflinching images of war should perhaps not view this – or at least these particular moments.

For some, Darfung Dennis’ unnatural approach with this film might make some purists angry and feel as if he might be using the horrors of present-day war to serve as a backdrop for his stylish and compelling techniques.

I got nothing else. When released to home video, the film received an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature and held the rare 100% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. No, you SHOULD see this movie if at all inclined.