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Movies / On DVD / My Country, My Country
My Country, My Country

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My Country, My Country (2006)

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Reviews Counted:35

Fresh:30

Rotten:5

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: This war documentary offers a valuable look at Iraqi life under the U.S. occupation, and finds a compelling central subject in Dr. Riyadh.

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Aug 4, 2006 Limited

Synopsis: Working alone in Iraq over eight months, director/cinematographer Laura Poitras creates an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Iraqis living under U.S. occupation. Her principal focus is Dr.... Working alone in Iraq over eight months, director/cinematographer Laura Poitras creates an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Iraqis living under U.S. occupation. Her principal focus is Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate. An outspoken critic of the occupation, he is equally passionate about the need to establish democracy in Iraq, arguing that Sunni participation in the January 2005 elections is essential. Yet all around him, Dr. Riyadh sees only chaos, as his waiting room fills each day with patients suffering the physical and mental effects of ever-increasing violence. Dramatically interwoven into the personal journey of Dr. Riyadh is the landscape of the US military occupation, with Australian private security contractors, American journalists and the UN officials who orchestrate the elections. Unfolding like a narrative drama, MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY follows the agonizing predicament and gradual descent of one man caught in the tragic contradictions of the U.S. occupation of Iraq and its project to spread democracy in the Middle East. --© Zeitgeist Films [More]

Director: Laura Poitras

Director: Laura Poitras
Studio: Zeitgeist Films

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Release:

Mar 20, 2007

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Reviews for My Country, My Country

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Powerful and moving.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
06/14/08
Amber Wilkinson
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film

Part of the problem with the film, though, is that some of the scenes with the doctor and his family and the doctor and his patients have a staged feel to them -- as if, they were also putting on a "show."

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
07/14/07
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews

Poitras demonstrates fine judgement in making Dr. Riyadh the central focus of her well-detailed story.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
02/05/07
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

The documentary maintains an observant distance from the sweep of history, and even the elections.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
12/21/06
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Nation | comment Comment
11/11/06
Stuart Klawans
Stuart Klawans
Nation
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/21/06
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Poitras creates a vivid portrait of Iraqi civilians siding with neither the U.S. occupation nor the insurgents but just looking for the killing to end.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
10/20/06
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

A compelling report.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/13/06
Bill Stamets
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A memorable portrait of a nation's growing pains.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/12/06
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
09/30/06
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In 90 captivating minutes, Laura Poitras' extraordinary documentary My Country, My Country gives you a greater understanding of the situation in Iraq than you'd get from 100 hours of Fox News or CNN.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
09/29/06
Jeff Shannon
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times

... day-to-day life under occupation where citizens still live without power... and extremist rebels wage a campaign of intimidation against Iraqis and Americans alike.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/28/06
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The camera should never leave the four walls of the Riyad family home. Beyond that story, there is a dullness to the pacing and the wider tale of the Iraqi elections.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
09/21/06
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Despite some flaws--docu doesn't illustrate the political backdrop or explains where the Sunis fit vis-a-vis the Kurds, Shia, Arbas--Poitras' feature is essential in venturing into new grounds that no journalists or directors have previously explored

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
09/16/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

What My Country, My Country does best is show us that while both the Americans and the Iraqis care about the country's future, their cultural backgrounds and world views inevitably make them seem alien to each other.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/15/06
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film delivers powerful images of a country mired in chaos, where explosions, gunfire, power outages and unrest rule the day, leading to a national despondency that understandably fails to rise above the endemic suffering and daily death.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
09/15/06
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Remarkable.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
09/14/06
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

... sobering documentary ...

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
09/08/06
Walter V. Addiego
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Journalism at its finest, as has not been practiced in the U.S. in some time.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
09/05/06
Les Wright
Les Wright
culturevulture.net

The movie attempts to paint too large a canvas.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/01/06
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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