Maybe my hopes were too high for this movie, but in the end it was a let-down. First, a few good things I can say about it: The images are great, footage is interesting and fresh. As others mentioned, it is a documentary following Iraqis and only Iraqis in a country torn by war, and that angle itself is somehow novel for what is shaping up to be the "Iraqi Documentary" genre.
That being said, I have yet to see the relevance of following (for thirty minutes!) the life of a kid who's very special among his peers in that it has to repeat first grade four times. If this were a documentary about how the Iraqi education system accommodates students with disabilities, then the first fragment would be right on. But that wasn't the intent of the movie, as far as I can tell. I expected the documentary to give me a glimpse into the life of an average Iraqi, and - especially the first fragment, which for me set the mood for the entire movie - failed to do that.
Overall the movie lacks cohesive glue. It's a collection of (albeit beautifully shot) fragments clobbered together. Maybe more bake time in the editing room could have made a difference, who knows... It feels to me like one could splice in at any point footage of a cat crossing the road, and the movie would not be worse for it. Especially if you like cats.
That being said, I have yet to see the relevance of following (for thirty minutes!) the life of a kid who's very special among his peers in that it has to repeat first grade four times. If this were a documentary about how the Iraqi education system accommodates students with disabilities, then the first fragment would be right on. But that wasn't the intent of the movie, as far as I can tell. I expected the documentary to give me a glimpse into the life of an average Iraqi, and - especially the first fragment, which for me set the mood for the entire movie - failed to do that.
Overall the movie lacks cohesive glue. It's a collection of (albeit beautifully shot) fragments clobbered together. Maybe more bake time in the editing room could have made a difference, who knows... It feels to me like one could splice in at any point footage of a cat crossing the road, and the movie would not be worse for it. Especially if you like cats.