Attilas '74

This is a true account of the days up to and after the events that shaped what Cyprus is today - the only country in the world that still has a divided city. This is a documentary made by a Cypriot director and told with an obvious Cypriot slant. To its credit, nearly all the main people involved in these events are given air time to say their thoughts on the subject, leaving the viewer with much food for thought. However, it shows a side to events that was avoided by foreign reporters and give a no holds barred account of what happened after the invasion. It may not provide easy viewing from a Turkish perspective, but invading another country kinda has that effect on things. Highly recommended.

I am not a Greek or Turk, I am a person who loves movies, and I loved Attila 74. The style of documentary film-making is fascinating and real. The film is blunt, to the point and devastating. It feels like you are there in the midst of war, suffer and grieve with the locals, you feel for their loss and suffering. The film connects with you no matter what nationality you are. It is almost impossible to judge history, since there are two sides to each tale, but a documentary like Attila 74, helps understand what went on or what went wrong. I felt it is an honest witness to the horrible events that shook the peaceful population of this great Island. Bravo Mr. Cacoyannis not only for your wonderful film, but for the courage to go there and record history. I recommend this movie with all my heart.

This movie is really for Greeks to see rather than the Turks. Having watched it with tension to address allegations, I am relieved that despite the single sided, far from objective narrative of the story, the director clearly acknowledges the fact that EOKA-B was a terror organization rather than a group of freedom fighters, and slaughtered people of their own blood. One must insist however that if EOKA-B was brutal to the Greeks, why the director was inhesitant to film the brutal use of force against the minority of the Turks. Mr. Makarios in this movie is very keen on giving numbers to identify percentages, as if the audience is idiot (just to show 6500 people is not small) but he refuses to comment that 18% of the population of the island equals to around 50 million people of the United States.

The director chooses to distort the history by omitting the details of the 1963 and 1967 and also wishes to sweep the illegal change of the Cypriot constitution by Macarios under carpets. The director makes no reference to the incidents prior to 1974 and just believes as if Turkey acted all of a sudden which is totally unrealistic looking at the slow motion capabilities of the Turkish army.

Though the director is right to blame the nationalist ENOSIS adventurers for the intervention, he fails to keep an objective eye on the matter and the documentary is turned into a propaganda and this is exactly why no body knows about this film.

As the great director Akira Kurosawa proved in "rashomon," there are many sides to one story. Sure this film by one of Greece's best directors ever has gripping moments, but the film is far from being objective. It should be noted that I am half-Turkish, but I still look forward to a well-balanced docu on the issues aflicting Cyprus. It is an issue everyone should exmaine, but I don't think this film does the job because of its' subjective stance.

Attila 74 is a great documentary in almost every manner that one comes to expect. First, it was filmed soon after the events, thus giving accurate testimony to the tragedy. Secondly, the film examines the complexity of the situation quite well. Though there is little interviewing of Turkish Cypriots, other than politicians, this is an effect of the military situation that existed in Cyprus at the time. Getting into the Turkish held northern portion of Cyprus was difficult. The movie also acknowledges that tragedies occur because of people on both sides. It does not blame one person/group alone, but instead accurately depicts the misconduct and horrors committed by both ethnicities.

Some people will say that the movie is biased, but those are the people that just disagree with accepting the harsh, cold and depressing truth of the history of this sad little island.