Attilas '74

As the great director Akira Kurosawa proved in "rashomon," there are many sides to one story. Sure this film by one of Greece's best directors ever has gripping moments, but the film is far from being objective. It should be noted that I am half-Turkish, but I still look forward to a well-balanced docu on the issues aflicting Cyprus. It is an issue everyone should exmaine, but I don't think this film does the job because of its' subjective stance.

The documentary is about the invasion of Cyprus in the year 1974 by Turkey. The film was made a year after the invasion and the impact of the war was still fresh. It presents an unbiased view, one that attempts to capture the precursors of the invasion, the impact of the invasion and its consequences. Some documentaries make you sleep with their hedonistic objectivity without ever immersing the viewer. If you like statistics and bar-charts look elsewhere. This film will make you feel as if you were there during the invasion. An excellent film by an excellent director.

A very powerful documentary, worth watching.

Personally, I found it at least breathtaking watching scenes from life in Cyprus back in those awful days. In my opinion, Cacoyanis did not propagandize against the Turks, but against the external forces who had their own interests on the island. And by external forces I mean USA(CIA), Britain and their obedient followers like the Greek military coup generals and the Turkish regime (was it ever more democratic than a military coup?). Cacoyanis is not avoiding to point out the blame (and shame) of EOKA B. And when referring to Turks, we reckon he means the Turkish soldiers and not the Turkish-Cypriot people, who were till then living side by side with Greek-Cypriots. No one denies that Cypriots,be it both Greek and Turks, were the sole victims of this tragedy, but I don't think that Cacoyanis could possibly have a documented testimony from the latter at that time. I think it's a miracle that he had the chance and guts to make such a documentary in years of fear and uncertainty. But still he could have pursued the truth in a more complete form, by having some Turkish-Cypriots testifying their own experience.

Attila 74 is a great documentary in almost every manner that one comes to expect. First, it was filmed soon after the events, thus giving accurate testimony to the tragedy. Secondly, the film examines the complexity of the situation quite well. Though there is little interviewing of Turkish Cypriots, other than politicians, this is an effect of the military situation that existed in Cyprus at the time. Getting into the Turkish held northern portion of Cyprus was difficult. The movie also acknowledges that tragedies occur because of people on both sides. It does not blame one person/group alone, but instead accurately depicts the misconduct and horrors committed by both ethnicities.

Some people will say that the movie is biased, but those are the people that just disagree with accepting the harsh, cold and depressing truth of the history of this sad little island.

This is a true account of the days up to and after the events that shaped what Cyprus is today - the only country in the world that still has a divided city. This is a documentary made by a Cypriot director and told with an obvious Cypriot slant. To its credit, nearly all the main people involved in these events are given air time to say their thoughts on the subject, leaving the viewer with much food for thought. However, it shows a side to events that was avoided by foreign reporters and give a no holds barred account of what happened after the invasion. It may not provide easy viewing from a Turkish perspective, but invading another country kinda has that effect on things. Highly recommended.