Attilas '74

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.

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.

This movie is really for Greeks to see rather than the Turks. Having watched it with tension to address allegations, I am relieved that despite the single sided, far from objective narrative of the story, the director clearly acknowledges the fact that EOKA-B was a terror organization rather than a group of freedom fighters, and slaughtered people of their own blood. One must insist however that if EOKA-B was brutal to the Greeks, why the director was inhesitant to film the brutal use of force against the minority of the Turks. Mr. Makarios in this movie is very keen on giving numbers to identify percentages, as if the audience is idiot (just to show 6500 people is not small) but he refuses to comment that 18% of the population of the island equals to around 50 million people of the United States.

The director chooses to distort the history by omitting the details of the 1963 and 1967 and also wishes to sweep the illegal change of the Cypriot constitution by Macarios under carpets. The director makes no reference to the incidents prior to 1974 and just believes as if Turkey acted all of a sudden which is totally unrealistic looking at the slow motion capabilities of the Turkish army.

Though the director is right to blame the nationalist ENOSIS adventurers for the intervention, he fails to keep an objective eye on the matter and the documentary is turned into a propaganda and this is exactly why no body knows about this film.

Michalis Kakogiannis is an excellent director and has directed well-known tragedies in world cinema such as Iphigenia, Electra and The Trojan Women.

"Attilas '74" unfortunately erases the tragedy that island went through and let some commentators (Turks) do not want to admit it, shows the sufferings that the Greek Cypriots have gone through such as poverty, refugee, famine, war and kill over 1000 with the invasion of Turkey in 1974 on the island that still shows that it came peacefully (propaganda).

The documentary is real and is a punch in the stomach.

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.