Hollywoodgate

2023 [PERSIAN]

Documentary / War

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 92% · 38 reviews
IMDb Rating 6.9/10 10 611 611

afghanistan us army taliban kabul power politics withdrawal

Plot summary

Immediately after the US pullout from Afghanistan, Taliban forces occupied the Hollywood Gate complex, which is claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul.

Director

Ibrahim Nash'at Photo
Ibrahim Nash'at

Top cast

Ibrahim Nash'at Photo
Ibrahim Nash'at as Self
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
813.95 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
50 fps
1 hr 28 min
Seeds 3
1.47 GB
1920*1040
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
50 fps
1 hr 28 min
Seeds 13

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by pgeary6001 8 / 10

A Historic Documentary

The Egyptian director was granted access to follow and film two Taliban military figures for a full year, beginning just days after the West's retreat from Afghanistan. The result is this remarkable documentary.Criticism concerning what the documentary DOESN'T cover misses the point. Within the limitations imposed by his hosts (who threatened to kill him if they didn't approve of how he was filming) Nash'at captured fascinating sequences of the Islamic extremists on and off duty.Although there are comic moments (including when the Taliban reveal an inability to perform a simple multiplication operation in their heads), the overall effect is chilling. The complete subjugation of females and the casual cruelty to which children are exposed add to the grim tenor of the film.Anyone with any interest in history or international relations shouldn't miss this rare opportunity to pierce the veil surrounding this most barbaric of cultures, especially in light of the stated intention of those depicted to export their poisonous ideology by force of arms.
Reviewed by r-o-jolliffe 7 / 10

An insight - or is it?

The professional critics leave me uninformed: the documentary is courageously made and thoughtfully edited, but what does it tell us? It is likely that the Taliban's aim was propaganda but the most striking thing about this surprisingly amiable film is banality. If this was all that there was to the regime, then their victory in Afghanistan would be inexplicable and future tenuous. Ibrahim Nash'at voiceovers his experience of the suffering of the Afghan people and horrors of war (enabled at scale only by foreign machinery) but he has been severely constrained in what he can actually reveal. Some insight into the Afghan purpose is better than none and Nash'at's work is important. I hope he will thrive and be allowed more freedom and access in the future.
Reviewed by dorothybishop-12911 8 / 10

Fascinating documentary about Taliban after US withdrawal

You start out wondering why the Taliban gave access to Ibrahim Nash'at to film them - and indeed quite a few of those filmed are pretty hostile and complain about his presence. It becomes clear as the film progresses: they don't want to be liked but they do want to be feared, and as Nash'at's access is closely monitored, they do control the narrative to a large extent. Nash'at explained at the end that he wanted to interview ordinary Afghans but was forbidden from doing so.At the start, there are some moments where the Taliban seem bumbling and incompetent. They can't believe their luck when they find the Americans have left behind huge amounts of military equipment, including helicopters and planes as well as ammunition, plus medical supplies and a fully-kitted-out gym. Initially apprehensive, as they explore the facility, they realise this is an incredible treasure trove. The problem is lack of experts who can fix the planes (which were disabled by the Americans) or fly them. But some rather terrified-looking pilots who had deserted are dug out and reprieved on condition they fly the aircraft, and the planes are mended so that they can take part in a huge military parade in front of visiting dignitaries at the end of the film.There are disturbing scenes when squads set off at night to capture dissidents and extract information from them: we don't see any scenes of torture and killing, but it's clear they occurred.I found the more mundane scenes, when an officer had meals with his men, or planted trees on the facility, notable for the tense interactions between the Taliban, even when alone. I realised that a characteristic of authoritarians is that they don't know how to have fun - they need to be feared and that means they must be taken seriously. This may explain why they don't want anyone else to have fun.Also disturbing were rare scences of children: there was a brief shot of little girls dancing and laughing, but the other children in shot were little boys who were clearly being trained to grow into replicas of the war-mongering men they were with.Women didn't really feature except as shrouded figures begging in the streets. There was a scene where the men discuss whether women should be veiled: one of the men gives what he clearly regards as a cast-iron argument in favour: if you had two chocolates and one was wrapped and the other dropped in the dirt, which would you eat? The idea that the chocolate might have a view on the matter would clearly be beyond his comprehension.
Read more IMDb reviews

2 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment