Film Analysis Essay on "Good Kurds, Bad Kurds: No Friends but the Mountains"

Introduction

The film which is directed by the celebrated freelance journalist Kevin McKiernan starts by posing a mind jerking question, "Is it a war of national liberation or a war against terrorism? McKiernan succeeds in documenting a complex investigative film report from the interior of war zone foreign boundaries. He takes his journalist camera into the offensive to write the story behind the Kurdish rebellion raging war against the Turkish government. The film sets the audience into deep thoughts about the reality of life; the definition of whether something is good or bad depends on one's personal perspective. In the film, the Kurds, a warring an unstable community has been divided into good Kurds and Bad Kurds depending on the sides that they have taken in the war. The good Kurds are those living in Iraq and have apparently become the victims of one of the world's most wanted terrorists, Saddam Hussein.

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The Turkish government, which is an ally of the United States, has raged war against Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein in order to rescue the 'good' Kurds. The Turkish US governments have combined their forces in what seems to be a war against terrorism. They have invaded Iraq and they are relying on the cooperation of the 'good Kurds' to subdue Saddam Hussein and his army. The 'bad Kurds' are those who have sided with Saddam to wage resistance attacks against the Turkish invasion. Their perspective towards Turkish invasion in Iraq is different from that of the good Kurds. They believe that the Turkish activities in Iraq will interfere with their independence and freedom to run things as they choose.

McKiernan independently tries to clarify the events and complex history surrounding the Kurdish people making them take to antagonistic sides instead of being united as a community. The film reveals the stateside tragedy, political differences, and family history that have caused discomfort within the Kurd community. The perspective of the good and bad Kurds was coiled by the Turkish government. Those who supported them were considered to be victims of the Saddam's administration in Iraq while those who opposed them were the bad Kurds and they deserved the same fate as their leader Saddam Hussein.

However, the film reveals that not all the Kurds who opposed the Turkish government were working for Saddam. Some Kurds were already opposing Saddam's administration and were raging war against him before the intervention of the Turkish government. They resisted Turkey as a way of safeguarding their freedom from being interfered by foreign forces. The good Kurds cooperated with the Turkish government hoping to get their freedom at the end of the day once Saddam has been defeated. The good Kurds and Turkish government united for the same course but different objectives. For Turkey and the US, the war against Saddam was to counter terrorism through capturing and maiming the person the two governments considered to be the engine of terrorist activities. On the other hand, for the good Kurds, the war it presented an opportunity to fight for national liberation.

Source Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbAGK7WHs2o