n fact the most disquieting aspect of the film is that it was shot between 2003 and 2005, meaning that, however bad daily life seemed then, things have grown far worse since the camera was switched off. Director James Longley would no doubt concur but, cleverly, he never makes his own views explicit, preferring to let the images speak for themselves.
And speak they do, whether it's the first section of the film in which 11-year-old Sunni boy Mohammed is forced to choose between work and education or, better still, a up-close look at the Shiite political/religious group run by Moqtada al-Sadr.
The third strain of the film retreats from the extremes of the first two parts by way of emphasising that these are ordinary folk unfortunate enough to live in extraordinary times and focuses on rural Kurdish families and, in particular, fathers and sons.
Throughout, it's shot so brilliantly that it feels less like a documentary than a superior drama. Best of all, though, is Longley's compassionate depiction of people to whom, crucially, we can all relate.
And speak they do, whether it's the first section of the film in which 11-year-old Sunni boy Mohammed is forced to choose between work and education or, better still, a up-close look at the Shiite political/religious group run by Moqtada al-Sadr.
The third strain of the film retreats from the extremes of the first two parts by way of emphasising that these are ordinary folk unfortunate enough to live in extraordinary times and focuses on rural Kurdish families and, in particular, fathers and sons.
Throughout, it's shot so brilliantly that it feels less like a documentary than a superior drama. Best of all, though, is Longley's compassionate depiction of people to whom, crucially, we can all relate.