372. Mosul; movie review

 

 

MOSUL

Cert TBA

86 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

"What on earth must it be like to see your home city turned to rubble?" I mused to Mrs W as we took in the opening shots of Mosul, a drama about the war zone between the extremists of ISIS and the Iraqi forces.

Of course, my grandparents gave me a bit of a clue because they were in Coventry at the time of the Blitz which devastated our home city in the Second World War.

But even though there were still remnants of the destruction as we grew up, we couldn't really imagine what it would have been like to be living permanently fearing death.

The battle lines in Mosul were also very different because they were drawn from street to street or even house to house.

Matthew Michael Carnahan's film stars Suhail Dabbach as the commander of a ten-man SWAT squad which is operating outside of the establishment's authority while taking on ISIS.

These are a band of brothers who are so feared by the enemy that they are executed on sight rather than taken prisoner.

During the opening scenes, they come to the rescue of two police officers who are under heavy fire as they hold four hostages.

Immediately, a sense of distrust is sparked between the rescued and their liberators because in the hell of war nobody can be certain if truths are being told.

They cautiously allow one to go on his way but sense that the younger officer (Adam Bessa) might be useful on the squad's daring mission.

Not they will even tell him what that is because they cannot be convinced of his allegiance.

That is the problem on the frontline where infrastructure has collapsed and enemies and allies look alike.

Nevertheless, Bessa's character progressively gains respect as the team faces a catalogue of incidents which cost lives on both sides.

The detail of Mosul makes it so arresting. From the fire-fights to the chit-chat to the sense of frontline dread which must exist every waking minute.

It is a powerful piece of work, reminiscent of The Hurt Locker, and one of the few which stand out in 2020.

I thank two of my Twitter followers for drawing it to my attention.

Reasons to watch: Intense examination of life on Iraq's frontline

Reasons to avoid: Incessant violence

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 9/10

Did you know? Although Baghdad declared victory over Isis three years ago, there are more than a quarter of a million displaced Iraqis still living in camps, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The final word. Executive producer Mohamed Al-Daradji: "I know people in Mosul — real soldiers that we lost, friends and family, relatives. And we lost them, they were killed– or most in battle. And I met a lot of SWAT teams before this film, and I made a short documentary about them. But when I read the script, I was so attached to it, and I felt like it is [my] duty for me to walk in this not as a filmmaker but as an Iraqi to work in this film because it was so emotional. And Mat did an amazing job when he wrote the draft of the script." Netflix LIfe

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