Beer is Cheaper Than Therapy (Netherlands)

War? What is it good for? According to Beer is Cheaper Than Therapy, it's perfect for turning once-patriotic idealists into shells of their former selves. This documentary from Dutch filmmaker Simone de Vries examines the mental-health crisis faced by U.S. soldiers returning from deployment overseas, illustrated by a high rates of depression, alcoholism, and suicide among soldiers living in Killeen, Texas, the town adjacent to Fort Hood, one of the largest military bases in the United States.

"How do you come back and worry about things like parking tickets?" one anguished veteran asks, and this disconnect between the theatre of war and the reality of daily life is repeated numerous times throughout the film. De Vries highlights the post-traumatic stress, sense of displacement, and loneliness these men feel upon returning from the front lines, and shows how the U.S. military builds up the heroic idea of the brave soldier yet completely abandons them once they are no longer fit for service. Young men (no women soldiers are interviewed in the film) turn to alcohol and medication to cope with their trauma, and there are few resources available for those who need therapy.

The disillusionment of the interviewees—none of whom are identified by name onscreen—is palpable, and much of their narration set to long, meandering shots of Killeen, forcing the audience to appreciate the sometimes disturbing voiceovers recalling the horrors of war and the transformation of hopeful young men into broken soldiers.

Interviews with a local tattoo artist are incredibly telling, as she recounts the blind enthusiasm most men have before deployment, which is replaced by a sense of grief and anger once they return to home soil. Tattoo imagery features prominently in throughout the film, almost as if de Vries is trying to show a physical manifestation of mental scars.

The film's final vignette follows a group of ex-soldiers who are petitioning Fort Hood generals to stop sending young men to war, offering a glimmer of hope for a better future. But with the U.S. military-industrial complex's pervasiveness in American culture and the economy, is there really any chance for 40,000 broken human beings?

DOXA presents Beer is Cheaper Than Therapy on May 12 at 12 p.m. at Pacific Cinémathèque.

Watch the trailer for Beer is Cheaper Than Therapy.