Coup 53

What I knew about the overthrow of Mossadegh before seeing this amazing motion picture was limited to the CIA, the Shah, and it was about oil. I had no idea it was really about protecting British "Deepwater Horizon" Petroleum's highway robbery of Iranian oil. The whole ugly episode speaks brilliantly to the horrors of neocolonialism. The Suez War, with the US against Britain and France, three years later makes perfect sense now, not to mention the bizarre imbalance today of NATO taking aim at Russia--all while a half-dozen of its members are paying billions for Russian oil.

I had the opportunity to watch this film at a Fresno State University screening organized by a MCJ professor. It is an incredible documentary that focuses on the Iranian coup of 1953, a coup that was planned and organized by British and American forces. Have you ever heard of former Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh? If not, this film will be a revelation. Director Taghi Amirani spent ten years on this project and he discovered so many hidden and long-suppressed details about the events leading up to the coup. He spent hours pouring over official government records retrieved from helpful archivists, filming interviews with other researchers, gathering first-hand accounts from people who stood at the periphery of the events, and even digitizing decades-old records that had long been removed from public memory. The result is this outstanding documentary of a "hidden history" that unreservedly deserves to come to light.

While it is discussing a highly interesting and important subject and piece of history, it was presented quite dull, mundane, and frankly, boringly. Moments that stood out though were some odd choices of filmmaking that made the documentary as a whole felt like it was an amateur production at times. It did not command any serious attention and it did not have a sense of gravitas I was expecting.

However, despite my non-enjoyment, I did learn and gained quite a bit on the subject. The effort and work put into this was evident. The second or third half of the documentary was better produced and had a better sense of maturity to it.

If you're looking for a captivating and commanding documentary, I would direct you elsewhere. However, if you're looking for one about this specific topic, then go for it.

One of the best structured and most professional documentaries I have ever watched. An eye opening, informative and admirable historian works of contemporary Iran.

A lot can be learned through this film about how great powers can drastically impact nations destiny!

More than I am tempted to blame US or Britain for Iran's failure of establishing democracy 60 years ago, I think we should learn that we need to take into account the balance of power and our true limitations. To this day there seem to be no justice or fairness in politics and nations should try to understand the rules the world is governed by.

This is a fascinating subject but terribly edited/put together. It is a jumbled mess of styles, first it is non linear, then linear and then dramatized. It covers so many different styles it feels like it was three or four different versions that are mashed together. The producers said they weren't sure if it was a multi part documentary or a single part and it shows. The camera works switches from slickly framed to jarringly jangly close ups of old persian men. The names and text of interviewees disappears before you have a chance to read it. The gonzo style camera work gave me a headache and is quite jarring against the tightly framed talking heads.

But, there is a lot of fascinating stuff in there and if they could edit it and decide on one style it could be brilliant. 3/4 through it, they bring in this pastel effect on live action reenactments which again is very jarring from what came before.