Review of Bhutto (2010) by Walter M — 20 Dec 2010

While "Bhutto" starts and ends with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the story does not start with her but with her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, an ambassador to the United Nations, nationalist leader, founder of the People's Pakistan Party, and Pakistani Prime Minister before being forced out and executed on trumped up charges.(Is there any coup that Kissinger has not been involved with?).

This very informative and incisive documentary details the history of Pakistan which was baptized in the blood of partition, leading to a decades long standoff with India, especially on the subject of Kandahar. With the country forever being on a war footing, the military has never been far from power, even with a civilian prime minister. With 25% of the budget being allocated to the military, little is given over to basic services including education. That is exacerbated by the wars in neighboring Afghanistan, as the money flows from the United States to support dictators in power who support the party line.

That makes any struggle for democracy an uphill battle. For that to happen, the citizenry must be educated but right now that slack is picked up by the madrassas who tend to err on the side of fanatacism. Into that gap stepped Benazir Bhutto, appointed ahead of her brothers to be her father's political heir(her political heir is her son, not one of her two older daughters) which is huge in a country where honor killings are commonplace. Even when she became prime minister, change was slow, as she was eventually removed from power, not once but twice. And on returning from exile in 2007, she realized the necessity of her actions, even while knowing what the cost could be.

Throughout "Bhutto," Benazir's disembodied voice is heard from an interview, giving the feel of her speaking from beyond the grave. While the documentary verges on hagiography, it also allows a remarkable range of voices to be heard, including different factions within her family(fractured but not on King Lear level). Even former President Pervez Musharraf has his say. And I guess you cannot bring up the 60's without the rock and roll cliches, can you?