Control Room: 2004, dir. Jehane Noujaim. Seen at Paramount (Oct. 10).
I said I was getting tired of political documentaries, but we had Paramount movie passes to burn and I had no desire to see Winged Migration. I thought it would be Good For Me to see this profile of Al Jazeera, the Arab news network, and its coverage of the war in Iraq in 2003.
I did not expect to find the movie as compelling as it was. No voiceover, which was a nice change of pace. No blatant propaganda pushed in my face. No grandstanding. No, well, no Michael Moore or even Errol Morris.
Control Room does have an agenda—showing the US war with Iraq from the point of view of this small maverick news agency in a sympathetic way. Various reporters tell us that no, Al Jazeera is not totally unbiased, but ask if major US networks would be unbiased if the US were invaded. Comparisons are made to FOX News, the “fair and balanced” news network here in the US. Al Jazeera is trying to produce news stories about Iraq that the average Arab audience will understand.
The one difficulty I had with this movie was that it often showed American military and politicians commenting on ways in which they felt Al Jazeera was “faking” stories, but did not address these specific allegations. The allegations were made to seem ridiculous, and perhaps some were, but I would have liked seeing specific and concrete proof.
I’m finishing this review weeks after I saw Control Room, which is unfortunate, but I didn’t have much to say the day after I saw it either. I thought it was well-made, entertaining in its way, and raised some good issues. I certainly recommend seeing it—it’s available on DVD now.