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- 2002
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 29 m
- 2002
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 29 m
Summary This documentary features first-person interviews with Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance until his assassination in September 2001.
- 2002
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 29 m
- 2002
- New Yorker Films
- 1 h 29 m
Massoud, the Afghan
60
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary This documentary features first-person interviews with Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance until his assassination in September 2001.
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
60
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
25% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
60
75% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
25% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
The movie doesn't reach any deep insights, but its mixture of psychology, philosophy, and realpolitik is downright riveting.
This educational and moving film is must-viewing for anyone who craves a glimpse of the best qualities of a country that many have coveted but which has never been colonized.
A unique, priceless portrait of the now legendary leader, and of his beautiful country when it was in the grip of a disastrous civil war.
I was struck by how personal this movie is, and by the delicate symbiosis that develops between biographer and subject. Mr. Ponfilly's presence in the film (mostly on the soundtrack and once or twice on camera) does not overshadow Massoud so much as filter our understanding of him.
History has since overtaken Ponfilly's film, which now more than ever seems like but one chapter in a much larger story -- the ongoing tragedy of Afghanistan -- and a tragic tribute to all that might have been.
A weak documentary. There's very little here to demonstrate the personality and leadership qualities that made Massoud both a legend and a martyr. Raw, sloppily edited, unfocused and without any sense of scale, it's personal journalism with its heart in the right place, and that's about it.
A series of non-answers isn't enough to build a documentary on, especially when they're strung together by insufferably self-congratulatory voiceover narration (de Ponfilly plays up his agony over whether documentary filmmaking helps or hurts its subjects) and corny stylistic effects.
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Production Company
Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC),
Interscoop,
La Sept-Arte,
Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF),
Société des Producteurs de Cinéma et de Télévision (Procirep),
TVO
Release Date Dec 4, 2002
Duration 1 h 29 m
Genres
