Ahlaam

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Audience Member This movie left me in awe. It's rawness is poignant and catches perfectly what must be the mood of an invaded city. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member The movie is not much itself, but it seems a miracle you can make a movie in Irak, about Irak situation, in such that situation. More relevant as testimony of modern Irak than as piece of art. It looks that you could have done a great work with the same plot if you had more budget, more experienced artists, and not such a chaotical situation around. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member liked the cinematography, but the second half dragged on Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Another great film from Iraqi director Al-Daradji about a psychiatric institution bombed by American forces in Baghdad that focuses on three people - a woman patient distraught from having her wedding interrupted when her fiance was dragged away, a shell-shocked soldier and an idealistic doctor. Their back stories are slowly revealed as we go back and forth from the past to them dealing with their present dangerous situation. The continuity of the story telling is astonishing given the restrictive filming situation. Not a pleasant tale, but a war zone is always a messy unpleasant affair. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Hits right in the eye of the storm, a mental hospital in war torn Bagdad in 2003. After a relatively peaceful opening, things turn bleak, as they did in the production of this movie on location. When the shadows strike, be they US bombs or Iraqi state police, they do so unexpectedly, swiflt and with serious consequences. A sensitive, people-centred treatment of harrowing subject matter, shining a light into rarely seen places. The representation is all the more powerful as it comes from the inside out. An ironic twist where Iraqis appear to have been cast as American soldiers, presumably cos real Americans were light on the ground. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Important film about Iraq that was filmed in the aftermath of the Iraqi invasion (the director was kidnapped during the filmmaking). It's portrayal of the lives of ordinary apolitical Iraqi citizens is heartbreaking (if somewhat overacted). Important as a historical artifact as much as for the filmmaking. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Ahlaam

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