Kajaki

Nerve-wracking, terrible, horrible, exhausting, funny – watching Kajaki is an experience that effects the body and mind. If only all movies could be like that.

Based on a true story, Kajaki is set near the titular dam in Afghanistan in 2006. At this remote outpost a small platoon of British paras wile away the day reading and observing militia activity on the nearby roads far below. Not much going on. More out of boredom than anything else, three paras take off to inspect an incident at a militia roadblock. In a shallow indent in the mountain, one soldier steps on a mine and loses his leg at the knee. As others come to help, more mines are stepped on and more limbs are blown away: the realisation doesn't take long – they have stumbled into a minefield left over from the Russian invasion thirty-six years previously. An evac is called for but it's going to be some time before the helicopters arrive...

Initially presenting itself like just another war movie - there's the newbie, the by-the-book officer, the easy-going medic, the banter, etc. - once the soldiers stumble into that minefield all expectations are thrown aside. There is no pro or anti-war message either. Okay, there is the unblinking camaraderie of army life but Katis ensures there is no real glory in in the terrible wounds he lingers on (the makeup department overlooked for an Oscar).

The thing about having no star names in the cast (and that's no disrespect to the actors here as each and every one is terrific) it means that anyone at any time can die and this sets us on edge, as we're never sure what's going to happen next. Director Paul Katis uses this fear of uncertainty to drive the story that unfolds in real time. Or at least feels like it: the director ensures that we're there for every unsure step, every fading breath, and every scream (there is no music to embellish or underline what emotion we're supposed to feel).

This is just about distraught men in a terrible situation and Katis just drops you in the moment. When kneeling over two of his screaming friends, a soldier begs the medic, only feet away but it might as well be a mile, "What do I do?" No idea, mate.

A difficult but engaging watch.