Massoud, the Afghan

Name: Massoud, the Afghan
Genre: History, War, Documentary
Released: December 4, 2002
Duration: 89 min
Rating: 60

2002

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Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

New Yorker Films | Release Date: December 4, 2002

Summary: This documentary features first-person interviews with Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance until his assassination in September 2001.

Director: Christophe de Ponfilly

Genre(s): History, War, Documentary

Runtime: 89 min

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Critic Reviews

100

David Sterritt

The movie doesn't reach any deep insights, but its mixture of psychology, philosophy, and realpolitik is downright riveting. Read full review

Lisa Nesselson

This educational and moving film is must-viewing for anyone who craves a glimpse of the best qualities of a country that many have coveted but which has never been colonized. Read full review

Jonathan Foreman

A unique, priceless portrait of the now legendary leader, and of his beautiful country when it was in the grip of a disastrous civil war. Read full review

J. Hoberman

It's not the least of Afghan tragedies that this noble warlord would be consigned to the dustbin of history. Read full review

Dana Stevens

I was struck by how personal this movie is, and by the delicate symbiosis that develops between biographer and subject. Mr. Ponfilly's presence in the film (mostly on the soundtrack and once or twice on camera) does not overshadow Massoud so much as filter our understanding of him. Read full review

Jack Mathews

A weak documentary. There's very little here to demonstrate the personality and leadership qualities that made Massoud both a legend and a martyr. Raw, sloppily edited, unfocused and without any sense of scale, it's personal journalism with its heart in the right place, and that's about it. Read full review

Noel Murray

A series of non-answers isn't enough to build a documentary on, especially when they're strung together by insufferably self-congratulatory voiceover narration (de Ponfilly plays up his agony over whether documentary filmmaking helps or hurts its subjects) and corny stylistic effects. Read full review

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