Steve Connors and Molly Bingham's documentary goes inside the so-called insurgency that is waging a military campaign against the U.S.-led military forces in Iraq. Eight insurgents, coming from a variety of social and religious settings, explain why they have taken up arms. According to the interviewees, al-Qaeda's role in the chaos is on the far fringes; instead, they see the current U.S. occupying forces as gun-toting hypocrites who proclaim that they want to unify the country but are actually promoting policies that only further drive people apart. Understandably, the interviewees are not comfortable with being openly identified and thus go by occupational pseudonyms (“The Teacher,” “The Local,” “The Warrior”), and are filmed in shadows, from behind, or in blurred focus. From a current events standpoint, Meeting Resistance is already fairly dated, since it was shot during the first year of the occupation (one wishes that updates would have been part of the DVD's special features). Nonetheless, if the film seems more historic than contemporary, the insights that Connor and Bingham cull from these interviews is often startling: even from the beginning, Iraqis appeared to realize that the fall of Saddam Hussein was more of a curse than a blessing. DVD extras include an audio commentary and film notes. Recommended, overall. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)
Meeting Resistance
(2007) 85 min. In Arabic w/English subtitles. DVD: $24.95. First Run Features (avail. from most distributors). Volume 23, Issue 5
Meeting Resistance
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