Land of the Mujaheddin
Shot in Afghanistan in 1999 and 2000, this Italian-made video documentary, previously showcased at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, is now receiving a theatrical release for all too obvious and tragic reasons.
A harrowing cinema verite account of the efforts of an Italian surgeon, a photojournalist and a British nurse to establish an emergency hospital in an area of northern Afghanistan controlled by the guerrilla forces of the Northern Alliance, the film is an explicit portrait of the ravages of war.
The surgeon, Gino Strada, traveled to the remote village of Charikar, an area decimated by the munitions of the Taliban, to set up his medical facility. It is obvious that it is very much needed; many of the area's children lose their lives and limbs to the myriad mines littered throughout the area, and the fighters themselves suffer great casualties.
Among the problems that Dr. Strada and his colleagues must deal with are the difficulties in importing medical supplies, the profusion of weapons (he does manage to get guns barred from the building), and a group of tanks parked nearby that would make the hospital a tempting military target.
A procession of victims testify to their hardships: the burning of houses and schools, rampant hunger, the repression of women, etc. And the near constant stream of people with amputated or blown-off limbs provides ample visual demonstration of the physical carnage of war. Indeed, the film is definitely not for the squeamish, containing extensive and graphic depictions of the crude surgical techniques necessarily practiced at the hospital.
Ultimately, the film doesn't quite attain the structure or dramatic momentum to lift it to a higher level, but it is certainly valuable both as an historical document -- among other things, it contains a filmed interview with Ahmed Shah Massoud, the recently assassinated leader of the Northern Alliance -- and for its unsparing and graphic depiction of the human toll of warfare and repression.
JUNG (WAR) IN THE LAND OF THE MUJAHEDDIN
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
in association with Karousel Films
Directors: Fabrizio Lazzaretti, Alberto Vendemmiati
Producer: Giusseppe Petitto
Director of photography: Fabrizio Lazzaretti
Editor: Giuseppe Petitto
Music: Mario Crispi
Sound: Alberto Vendemmiati
Color
Running time -- 114 minutes
No MPAA rating...
A harrowing cinema verite account of the efforts of an Italian surgeon, a photojournalist and a British nurse to establish an emergency hospital in an area of northern Afghanistan controlled by the guerrilla forces of the Northern Alliance, the film is an explicit portrait of the ravages of war.
The surgeon, Gino Strada, traveled to the remote village of Charikar, an area decimated by the munitions of the Taliban, to set up his medical facility. It is obvious that it is very much needed; many of the area's children lose their lives and limbs to the myriad mines littered throughout the area, and the fighters themselves suffer great casualties.
Among the problems that Dr. Strada and his colleagues must deal with are the difficulties in importing medical supplies, the profusion of weapons (he does manage to get guns barred from the building), and a group of tanks parked nearby that would make the hospital a tempting military target.
A procession of victims testify to their hardships: the burning of houses and schools, rampant hunger, the repression of women, etc. And the near constant stream of people with amputated or blown-off limbs provides ample visual demonstration of the physical carnage of war. Indeed, the film is definitely not for the squeamish, containing extensive and graphic depictions of the crude surgical techniques necessarily practiced at the hospital.
Ultimately, the film doesn't quite attain the structure or dramatic momentum to lift it to a higher level, but it is certainly valuable both as an historical document -- among other things, it contains a filmed interview with Ahmed Shah Massoud, the recently assassinated leader of the Northern Alliance -- and for its unsparing and graphic depiction of the human toll of warfare and repression.
JUNG (WAR) IN THE LAND OF THE MUJAHEDDIN
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
in association with Karousel Films
Directors: Fabrizio Lazzaretti, Alberto Vendemmiati
Producer: Giusseppe Petitto
Director of photography: Fabrizio Lazzaretti
Editor: Giuseppe Petitto
Music: Mario Crispi
Sound: Alberto Vendemmiati
Color
Running time -- 114 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/7/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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