Bitter lake showcases the violent spectacles, subtle ironies, and intimate acts of cruelty from the most recent afghan war. The narrative goes all over the world, america, britain, russia and saudi arabia but the country at. Im back on the adam curtis kick again after taking a brief break, and with two more acclaimed films to go in his challenging filmography, were up to bitter lake tonight. The narrative goes all over the world, america, britain, russia and saudi arabia but the country at the heart of it is afghanistan. His favourite theme is power and how it works in society, and his works explore areas of sociology, psychology, philosophy and political history.
No more series for him, as this singular picture sustains for nearly 140 minutes of dense research and theory. How adam curtis film bitter lake will change everything. It argues that western politicians have manufactured a simplified story about militant. Bitter lake is a new, adventurous and epic film by adam curtis that explains why the big stories that politicians tell us have become so simplified that we cant really see the world any longer. Based on the immersive theatre production and experimental work by adam curtis, it felt like a kiss is a visual exploration of the story of an enchanted world that was built by the rise of the united states as supreme power after the second world war, and how those living in that dream world responded to this. Adam curtis latest documentary, bitter lake, examines the special relationship between the us and saudi arabia which has grown to dominate the middle east. Bitter lake, which contains a wealth of fascinating archive material, deals principally with the postwar history of afghanistan. Adam curtis was born on may 26, 1955 in dartford, kent, england as kevin adam curtis. Critical notes on adam curtis bitter lake january 27, 2015 october 28, 2019 alex baker 2 comments from out of the murk of the bbc archive, adam curtis new film project bitter lake bl shines forth. Adam curtis is both selfindulgent and fascinating january 25, 2015 5. Bitter lake adam curtis full bbc documentary 2015 youtube. There are simplifications aplenty in adam curtiss bitter lake, which tells a nearcenturylong history of western meddling in afghanistan, but there are more than enough formal and philosophical complexities in play, not to mention reliably provocative musical cues, to guide us well beneath the surface of things. Adam curtis explains how, at a time of confusing and inexplicable world.
Bitter lake tells the story of afghanistan, america and saudi arabia over the past 70 years. Bitter lake explores how the realpolitik of the west has converged on a mirror image of itself throughout the middleeast over the past decades, and how the story of this has become so obfuscating and simplified that we, the public, have been left in a bewildered and confused state. Politicians used to have the confidence to tell us stories that made sense of the chaos of world events. This is a film about why those stories have stopped making sense. Using extensive archive footage from throughout the 1960s, this experimental film. This took place soon after the yalta summit which handed much of europe to stalin and not long before roosevelts death, in warm springs, georgia. Bitter lake is a new, adventurous and epic film by adam curtis that explains why the. The real meat and drink of bitter lake is the hypnotic jumble of footage, quilted to underpin curtiss notion that world leaders have lost the plot.
He knows how to edit and use music to great affect but it is the message in his films that are extremely troubling. Gliding effortlessly alongside that is the rise of radical islam, afghanistan, and the petrodollar energy markets that. We all need stories to help us make sense of the complexity of reality, intones the sensible sounding voice of adam curtis at the start of his new documentary about afghanistan, bitter lake. The extraordinary footage assembled in adam curtiss powerful film about the tangled history of afghanistan offers some welcome insights. Bitter lake, the latest documentary from docucollagist adam curtis, posits this fateful meeting as the nexus of a number of intersecting political narratives on the middle east from neoconservative american agitprop to the iconoclasm of wahhabist islam. In fact curtis is simply projecting his left wing demagoguery onto his audience in a facile way. Adam curtis s beautiful, gripping film unravels a story of violence, bloodshed and bitter ironies. He is a director and producer, known for the power of nightmares. It is strange, but then strangeness is a theme that is at the core of curtiss work. In bitter lake, bbc documentary maker adam curtis consciously tells a complex story his answer to the excessive dumbingdown of politics and the media that he sees all around him. It is a bit of an epic its two hours twenty minutes long. The bitter lake of the title refers to an actual saltwater lake through which the suez canal flows, and presumably also to what you would find inside adam curtiss head if you were to cut it open. Adam curtis on how the west fooled itself bitter lake, adam curtiss new documentary, argues that ignoring the complexity of afghanistan has led to disaster and the rise of isis. The west had nothing but good intentions with their disastrous invasion of.
In a confused world it takes a special kind of journalistic filmmaking to help us see things more clearly. Bitter lake is a 2015 bbc documentary by british filmmaker adam curtis. It tells a big historical narrative that interweaves america, britain, russia and saudi arabia. The rise of the politics of fear 2004, pandoras box 1992 and hypernormalisation 2016. Kevin adam curtis born 26 may 1955 is a british documentary filmmaker. Bitter lake is a new, adventurous and epic film by adam curtis that explains why the big stories that politicians tell us have become so. Adam curtiss bitter lake the extraordinary footage assembled in adam curtiss powerful film about the tangled history of afghanistan offers some welcome insights but in his bid to counteract the lazy fables of good and evil beloved of some politicians, is the director in danger of oversimplification too. Bbc documentary bitter lake is too dangerous for tv. Adam curtis is a british documentary film maker his works explore areas of sociology, psychology, philosophy, politics and political history. The message taken from bitter lake 2015 is very simple. Soundtrack for adam curtis documentary, bitter lake discussion. Adam curtis documentary film bitter lake1 released on sunday 25th january through bbc iplayer, refines the collaged form of curtis previous work which includes the century of the self 20022, the power of nightmares. I rewatched bitter lake and made an effort to identify all of the music used, i think ive got everything but if i have missed anything please let me know. In the words of the filmmaker, it is the story of afghanistan and what has.
It ties power, development, and the desire for oil to territorial. Pandoras box, the century of the self, the power of nightmares, hypernormalisation. Bitter lake is an adventurous and epic film that explains why the big stories that politicians tell us have become so simplified that we cant really. The historical film occupies a particular place in the grand pantheon of documentary. Adam curtiss gripping film unravels a story of violence, bloodshed and bitter ironies bitter lake is a brilliant portrayal of the wests terrible arrogance beginning with a fateful meeting between president roosevelt and king abdulaziz of saudi arabia, curtis delves into a mass of historical archives to shed light on afghanistan and the west. A bold, bracing immersion in the sharkinfested pools of post1945 global politics, bitter lake is the latest provocative polemic from baftawinning. Adam curtiss newest film bitter lake was released online a couple of weeks ago. The documentary bitter lake remixes the bbc the new yorker. Adam curtis, bitter lake, truefalse film fest 2015 this weekend the truefalse film festival will bestow its annual true vision award to bbc house provocateur adam curtis in honor of his dedication to and advancement in the field of nonfiction filmmaking. Episode 259 meet adam curtis, establishment contrarian. It is experimental and uses footage, in ways that at. Adam curtis on how the west fooled itself telegraph. Trailer for new adam curtis film bitter lake coming soon to bbc iplayer.
1218 260 686 1025 1318 158 774 230 830 360 861 881 999 174 230 911 523 715 15 862 1249 128 1297 1347 63 181 721 515 351 963 395 476 1304 1000 1272