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Home » Video » Independent Lens | Hell and Back Again | Clip 1

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  • Independent Lens

Independent Lens | Hell and Back Again | Clip 1 | PBS

Duration: 02:02
Program: Independent Lens #1324
Broadcast Date: May. 28, 2012

Premiering May 28, 2012. Check local listings: www.pbs.org In this excerpt from the Oscar-nominated war documentary, Hell and Back Again, Echo Company is debriefed before their deployment on what is at stake in their mission. "Your conscience should be clear," they are told "and your honor should be clean." About the Film What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home — injured physically and psychologically — and build a life anew? In Hell and Back Again two overlapping narratives are intercut — the life of a Marine at war on the front, and the life of the same Marine in recovery at home — creating both a dreamlike quality and a strikingly realistic depiction of how Marines experience this war. The story follows the US Marines Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, as they launch a major assault on a Taliban stronghold in Southern Afghanistan. Within hours of being dropped deep behind enemy lines, Sergeant Nathan Harris's unit is attacked from all sides. Cut off and surrounded, the Marines fight a ghostlike enemy and experience immense hostility from displaced villagers. Frustration grows on both sides, as any common ground, or success, seems elusive. The parallel story begins with Sergeant Harris's return home to his wife in the US, after he is severely injured. He's in terrible physical pain, and becomes addicted to his pain medication. But his psychological pain may be worse, as he attempts to reconcile the immense gulf ...

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Post Date: May 24, 2012