I found this documentary to be disappointing. The great strength here is that we see lots of Tim Hetherington’s work, both video and stills, and the work is dynamic, personal, loving and warm. Hetherington says early on that his interest is the humanity that survives in war, and we see this humanity in war photo after war photo and in the behind-the-scenes video we watch of Hetherington at work with his subjects. He likes the people he photographs.
But Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? stumbles when
Hetherington isn’t onscreen. Junger
intimates a different motivation for each different theater Hetherington works
in. He says that Hetherington wants to show war
by photographing its effects in Liberia, but he also says Hetherington is interested in the
soldiers’ posturing to get keyed up.
Later, it’s male bonding that interests Hetherington in Afghanistan. And in the six-year period the photographer
stayed in Liberia after the war, his interest is……well, Junger doesn’t
say at all. We're not sure why Hetherington decided to leave Liberia, and we don't know why he wanted to go to Afganistan. Which Way Is the Front Line from
Here? moves from one idea about Hetherington’s work to another, leaving us with
a series of touching, compelling moments, but it ultimately fails to give us a
core to help us understand this artist who worked as a photojournalist. In fact, it doesn’t even try.
It’s hard to leave this film without an appreciation of
Hetherington’s work since we get to enjoy so much of it. However, as a documentary, Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? disappoints because we can’t learn
more of the aesthetic behind Hetherington's work or of what motivated it. The important takeaway from the film is that we lost a talented documentarian when Hetherington was killed in Libya, and that counts for something anyway.
