Massoud, l'Afghan

Excellent Movie About On September 9, 2001, Ahmed Shah Massoud, the 48-year-old leader of the forces which came to be known as the Northern Alliance, was assassinated by two men posing as journalists, believed to be acting on orders from Osama bin Laden. Massoud had been waging a lonely battle in Afghanistan's rugged mountains and valleys, first against the Soviets and later against the Taliban.

Charismatic and charming, looking more than a little like Bob Dylan, and trained as an architect, he seems an unlikely guerrilla hero. In the interviews he gives French journalist Christophe de Ponfilly, Massoud proves to be urbane and humane. The filmmaker, for his part, gives a first-person account of eight visits to Afghanistan over a 17-year period, beginning in 1981.

It is an extraordinary journey, filled with images of unreal beauty (blue skies, red mountains) and terrible cruelty, punctuated by the filmmaker's trenchant thoughts on the failure of the West to support Massoud and his followers over more than two decades.

Winner: Prix spécial du Jury - Prix Public Jeune - Prix Planète au FIGRA 1998, Prix du Meilleur Documentaire 98 au Festival dei Popoli à Florence, Prix spécial du Jury au Festival Mondial de Télévision 2000 à Tokyo, Grand Prix du 18ème festival du film Montagne et Aventures d'Autrans.

The blindness of history and war. A movie that is a witness of the bad conscience of the occidental countries, of their guilty absence, of their suspicious economies, of their stupid and masochist politics. But chiefly this movie is a private meditation on the meaning of witness with a camera in a world where the images have became the fetish of the Affluent Society, with no sense, with no dignity. This movie talks about heroism as a very ordinary fact, without rhetoric, without exaltation. Massoud is dead and this movie has became a film for the memory. It leaves an unwanted sense of tribute, a deep sense of sadness.

This is a documentary about the life of Massoud, who was the leader of the Northern Federation in Afghanistan. The film footage concentrates in the events in 1997, when The Northern Federation and Taliban fought fiercely to gain control of the Afghanistan.

There were several things I found memorable in this film. There was a little boy who touched a "stone", and the "stone" exploded. It was in fact a grenade. His fingers were blown off completely, and his whole arm had to be amputated. It was extremely upsetting. Imagine a little boy, who did not understand the terror of war, will live his life as a handicapped person. It was terrible.

Another film footage showed a group of men walking with a prosthetic limb. All of them had their leg amputated because of injuries from landmines. I felt very sad, because landmines did so much harm to civilians, and the harm was permanent. Sometimes, the effect of the harm will not be seen until many years after the landmines are laid.

There was something said in the film which I found so true. Millions of people died or had their lives changed because of one man's decision. One man in USSR decided to invade Afghanistan, and therefore Afghanistan was in war for 20 years. The most ironic fact is that, the man who made the decision do not have to suffer, while all other people in the distant land suffered forever.

There was another statement that was very memorable. "I feel so disgusted by people shouting because of their victory in a background of ruins". I was very touched by this statement. The whole party may have won a battle, but what have they gained? Only a pile of stones in the ruins! The soldiers did not seem to understand that in the process to fight for the control of a city, buildings were completely destroyed, many people were killed, many people became homeless. Children became orphans. The economy broke down, the culture was destroyed. By gaining a ruined city, they lost everything else.

I hope people will understand that peace in the world is very important. "I wish there is world peace" as a birthday or new year wish should not be seen as a perfunctory wish.

Christophe de Ponfilly started this film in 1981, and continued with it for 16 years. The primary focus is the commander of the Afghan resistance, Massoud. De Ponfilly shows us the war torn world of Afghanistan, from the Soviet wars of the 80s, to the civil war between Massoud's troops and the Taliban up to 1997. Give it a chance if you get to see it, it was recently on CBC's The passionate eye.