Of Men and War

Filmed over a period of five years, director Laurent Bécue-Renard’s Of Men and War offers intimate access to a different kind of conflict zone—the interior battle waged by veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan as they struggle with PTSD and related war traumas. Set at the innovative Pathway Home in Yountville, California, this quietly intense documentary follows a cohort of veterans as they enter Pathway’s residential treatment facility and attempt a reckoning with the inner demons that have derailed their once-hoped-for return to civilian life. Bécue-Renard’s observational style patiently captures this arduous process, bearing silent witness as these scarred men participate in a unique regimen of programs, from the visceral confessions of trauma therapy to contemplative walks in the idyllic Napa Valley countryside. At first overwhelmed by fear, anxiety and barely suppressed rage, these young men must contend with the memory of horror and try to come to terms with their postwar selves. As they falter, argue with one another, and sometimes threaten violence, the gentle voice of Pathway’s founder—therapist and fellow veteran Fred Gusman—can often be heard, urging them onward. Long after the battlefields are emptied, this painful route to healing—never guaranteed—reveals that the true cost of war is still to be counted. —Paul Meyers