Kajaki

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Paul Katis directs. Chris Goodger behind the camera. Brin cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 12 years ago.
• 2Directed by Paul Katis, shot by Chris Goodger. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Editor Brin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 4Mark Stanley and Malachi Kirby and Ali Cook carry the top of the cast.
• 5Marketing tagline: "A film about bravery, courage, heroism and the ultimate sacrifice.".
• 6IMDB entry: tt3622120 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 7Classified under 14 themes, including "helicopter", "army", "gun", "bravery".

The technical file

Cinematography

Chris Goodger

Editing

Brin

Production design

Erik Rehl

Costume design

Phaedra Dahdaleh

Makeup / hair

Chris Lyons

VFX supervisor

Sheila Wickens

Sound

James Hayday

Runtime

108 min · 1h 48m

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Kajaki (2014) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

100% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

7.1/10 · 14,766 votes

MPAA

R

US box office

$7,891

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Reno2015-08-18
  ★ 9/10

  One bad step might cost your leg, maybe life. Once I finished watching, said 'wow'. It can mean in many ways like the movie was stunning, edgy and probably best war flick of the 2014. Yep, there's no doubt in that, at least to me among those I've seen. It was a low budget British war-drama-thriller based on the real event that takes place in the year 2006, Afghanistan. The director was a documentary filmmaker, and I'm happy he chose to make it a movie. But still it looks like a semi-documentary and powerful. In the backdrop of the Kajaki dam valley where one of the British army camp lies in a mountain top, one morning a military unit goes for a routine checkup in the surrounding area. It was not an usual day, a tragedy strikes and followed by a series of mishaps that leaves the entire team in a critical situation and so the other teams who come to assist. They risk their lives to rescue each other. Coming from the England, laying under the burning sun as the injured, they might have felt a very close to hell. The rest of the story is coming out of it, or would they? I must agree with many who had seen this said, it is tough to watch. Because everything looked so real, sometimes the pain was felt if your focus was thorough. Especially if you are a kind hearted, your heart rate might go up. It is not all about predictable, we know what might happen because of the following scenes after the first blow, it's one way or another. But how, where, when and who is the question. Anytime, anything might happen, the screenplay was genuine in that matter. Once the tension parts begin, it was unstoppable, it will pull you out of your chair often. "This whole country is full of sht left behind when armies fkd off." The whole film was shot in one location and its close by zone. It was in Afghanistan, according to the story, but the film was shot in Jordan. Very well utilised the locations, camera angles, the performances were top notch. I don't know anyone from the cast, but they were the best. Well, you won't forget the film after a watch, at least for a week maybe. You don't have to compare it with American war movies. This was not high-tech military combat, but just a simple story with one breathtaking circumstance. What really disturbs is to know it was a real story. The unit was small and the head office did not provide them a proper equipments like well working radio sets, metal detectors et cetera which caused the disaster. You know, in the war its not like, take your gun and go kill the enemies like the John Rambo. There is types of war that fought in different style. In this film, these young soldiers were making sure and reporting the movements of the enemy in a nearby checkpoint. What happens was they caught in an unexpected trap and afterwards it turns human emotions. I don't remember seeing a better war film from Britain, at least not recently. This film totally shocked me which was unexpected from an unheard title. As usual, taking chances in the unpopular movies gave me an opportunity to discover the hidden gem and I want to spread this word as much as possible far its reach. If you are reading this, especially you are an adult, I definitely highly recommend it. Don't anticipate a complete combat, but it'll give one hundred per cent of the theme under this narration takes place. 9/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Head Gear Films

  GB

• 

  Lipsync Productions

  GB

• 

  Metrol Technology

  GB

• ME

  MENA Film

  JO

• PU

  Pukka Films

Key crew

• ProducerAndrew de Lotbiniere
• ProducerPaul Katis
• CastingNour Alkawaja
• CastingJohn Hubbard
• CastingRos Hubbard
• Production DesignErik Rehl
• Art DirectionAlex Woodward
• Art DirectionNasser Zoubi
• Costume DesignPhaedra Dahdaleh
• Property MasterAnas Balawi
• ADR & DubbingPaul Wrightson
• FoleyJoo Fürst
• Supervising Sound EditorNigel Holland
• Sound Re-Recording MixerJames Hayday
• Sound Re-Recording MixerSven Taits
• CG SupervisorLaurent-Paul Robert
• Visual Effects ProducerPaul Driver
• Visual Effects ProducerAgnes Rama
• Visual Effects SupervisorSheila Wickens
• Camera OperatorCharlie Goodger
• Location ManagerJamal Al Adwan
• Unit PublicistJoe Utichi
• GafferHosni al-Baqa
• EditorBrin

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• helicopter
• army
• gun
• bravery
• afghanistan
• british army
• grenade
• biography
• based on true story
• dam
• morphine
• soldier
• rowboat
• minefield

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2015-11-04R· Denver International Film Festival
• Theatrical2015-11-13R

Also known as

International titles

• Kajaki: The True StoryGB
• Kilo Two BravoUS
• Kilo Two BravoUY
• Kilo Two BravoCA