Voices of Iraq--received from Netflix (review)

[vanity]

[supercat]

I just received a copy of Voices of Iraq from NetFlix. It appears NetFlix has ordered a custom-produced batch for their customers, so I would expect an ample supply to be available.

[supercat]

Voices of Iraq, as has been noted elsewhere, is a collection of footage shot by a bunch of ordinary Iraqis, interspersed with some footage from Al Quaeda, Uday Hussein, and various other sources. Much of the footage appears to be oriented chronologically, with some superimposed newspaper headlines which presumably are associated, at least roughly, with the dates that different segments were shot. Speech, whether in English, Kurdish, or Arabic, is subtitled in English.

The earlier footage is nauseatingly shaky (people just couldn't hold the cameras steady) but people seemed to get better as the movie progressed. Some people did not seem to want to be filmed (I'm always irked when such people are shown in a release picture) but many people, especially children, seemed to love hamming it up for the camera.

The film shows a mixture of anti-American and pro-American sentiments. Although the film--especially in later portions--seems to be more pro- than anti-, that's not really what's important. What is important is that the message of the film is very loudly and clearly pro-Iraqi.

Indeed, this latter point is what struck me most about this film. Just listening to daily newscasts, one would get an impression that Iraq was some vast wasteland of desolation, but the movie shows a very different picture. People feel like they very much need security, which they don't have, but most also seem to have hope for the future.

I would highly recommend that anyone interested in this movie order it from NetFlix. It probably won't be possible for anyone who hasn't already gotten the film to do so before Tuesday, but even laying aside the issue of politics I would still recommend this film to anyone who wants to see how the human spirit can survive adversity.

[donnab]

theyve been surviving adversity for so long that just being able to speak and think for themselves is a blessing.

[txradioguy]

I hope that word of this video spreads so that people can see in this movie what I saw with my own eyes for a year. Iraq is not the ill planned quagmire-ish "distraction" that some people say it is.

I'm just glad that like the Iraqi people...I was there to see democracy born.

[k2blader]

Thanks for the ping over!

I'm not that big on documentaries, but this one caught my eye while surfing IMDb.com today.

[2SterlingConservatives]

We got the DVD from NetFlix and just finished watching it.

It is GREAT!

There is everything there; from a young woman who wishes Saddam were still in power to a man who tells about AlQaeda has been supported by Saddam for "10 years".

They show MSM headlines as an overlay to what was recorded by the Iraqi people with the cameras.

This was GREAT (it deserves the redundancy)!

Everyone should see this!

[k2blader]

Thank you for the post!

I wonder if Blockbuster will carry it eventually. :-]

[SFC Chromey]

This movie is OUTSTANDING!!! Yes I have to SHOUT OUTSTANDING !!!

Shows that what we are doing out there DOES matter!