Review of Iraq in Fragments (2006) by Matt B — 08 Jul 2007

The title of the documentary "Iraq in Fragments" describes both the film's form, and its content. The movie---pieced together from hundreds of hours of footage that director James Longley shot in Iraq following the 2003 U.S. invasion---unfolds in three separate acts. The first tells the story of Mohammed, an eleven-year-old Sunni Muslim working as an auto mechanic in Baghdad; the second vignette shows a group of Shiite Muslims determined to expel U.S. forces from the country, and to turn Iraq into an Islamic state; the final segment shows a group of Kurds in northern Iraq tending sheep, making bricks, and hoping for political autonomy. Longley subtly demonstrates Iraq's systemic fragmentation---he shows us three distinct groups, with three distinct goals, trying valiantly to inhabit the same politically tumultuous area. "The future of Iraq will be in three pieces," one Kurd predicts. The documentary's a challenging one to watch---rather than spoon-feeding viewers a history of the Iraqi conflict via narration, Longley lets his three stories unfold without much explanation. Viewers must constantly work to understand the film's political underpinnings, and the greater themes raised by its simple narratives. But the film's worth the extra effort. Longley's painstakingly edited, often-beautiful footage of smoke-billowing brick ovens, colorful flags, self-flagellating Shiites and sad-eyed little boys intimately shows us an Iraq we rarely get to see.

(by me, The Coast).