Attilas '74 (1975) User Reviews

Touching Portrait of Tragedy

[jmverville · 7/10 · 16 September 2004]

I found this film interesting because it documents very thoroughly the events of the 1974 war in Cyprus(and the occurrences leading up to it) in a very interesting light. It is very informative, though it be one-sided in its' information that it chooses to provide. However, its' side is represented well with the presentation of many facts and touching cinematic sequences, and shows a completeness in its' study and documentation of the war. It presents the reality of the situation and the problems that were faced by the people in Cyprus on a very human level, and it is the sort of film that you cannot easily forget.

Overall, if you enjoy historical or political films, and have any remote interest in the Mediterranean political situation, I would recommend it. Otherwise, one might not find the film to be particularly interesting or good, in spite of the beautiful shots of Cyprus and touching stories told by those caught in the tragedy.

As objective as a Greek-Cypriot could be !

[anestisofiadis · 7/10 · 14 July 2006]

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.

Quite objective and well presented

[trebien74 · 10/10 · 17 February 2007]

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.

A film that will make you reflect on humanity!

[adamsoch-1 · 9/10 · 22 January 2005]

I am not a Greek or Turk, I am a person who loves movies, and I loved Attila 74. The style of documentary film-making is fascinating and real. The film is blunt, to the point and devastating. It feels like you are there in the midst of war, suffer and grieve with the locals, you feel for their loss and suffering. The film connects with you no matter what nationality you are. It is almost impossible to judge history, since there are two sides to each tale, but a documentary like Attila 74, helps understand what went on or what went wrong. I felt it is an honest witness to the horrible events that shook the peaceful population of this great Island. Bravo Mr. Cacoyannis not only for your wonderful film, but for the courage to go there and record history. I recommend this movie with all my heart.

Truth is often tragic but it must be revealed.

[curtiso · 10/10 · 3 August 2004]

Viewing this powerful documentary caused me great sorrow knowing the events that caused the innocent people of Cyprus such loss and anguish and continues to do so. Personally I feel shame as I was a marine stationed aboard a ship in the U.S. fleet that was involved in evacuating refugees (American and European) from Cyprus. Earlier our forces were involved in a NATO military exercise with the Turks that was the cover for there invasion of Cyprus just as a year earlier the joint U.S.-Chilean naval exercise was a cover for the overthrow of Allende. I feel shame for America and Britain (especially for being a guarantor of Cypriot sovereignty) to allow Turkey (that wants to annex Cyprus or parts of it) to invade and still occupy 4o% of a country and for its armed forces to massacre innocent people. Greater is the tragedy because many Turks have Greek blood in their veins, with Greek speaking lands being under Turkish (Seljuk or Ottoman) domination for centuries and its subject peoples converted to Islam for economic or spiritual reasons or being forced to for survival. It is tragic that the fate of smaller or less powerful countries and its peoples be used as pawns to appease the powers that be. Every nation and culture that has risen will also fall, nothing lasts forever and what you sow you will reap. Hopefully mankind will learn this message before it is too late.

Excellent Film

[ephestio · 1 August 2011]

The documentary is about the invasion of Cyprus in the year 1974 by Turkey. The film was made a year after the invasion and the impact of the war was still fresh. It presents an unbiased view, one that attempts to capture the precursors of the invasion, the impact of the invasion and its consequences. Some documentaries make you sleep with their hedonistic objectivity without ever immersing the viewer. If you like statistics and bar-charts look elsewhere. This film will make you feel as if you were there during the invasion. An excellent film by an excellent director.

A very powerful documentary, worth watching.

Well presented but sadly one-sided

[BigCityMonk · 2/10 · 21 October 2009]

Cacoyannis is a great director and this documentary is very well presented except for the fact that is a one-sided view of the events. I admire his courage in filming the events of the summer of 1974 and what followed almost as they were happening. It brought back sad memories of those days as I have lived them as a child. Unfortunately it is a one-sided propaganda that Greek Cypriots so much love to repeat even to this day (perhaps even more so today).

I love the way he presents the human suffering of the refugees, it is real and shows the human suffering of war and its consequences. It is sad to see though that he completely ignores the suffering of the Turkish Cypriot refugees. Nor is he mentioning the terror they must have gone thru following the coup knowing its leader was planning to eliminate them. Nor does he mention the fact the T/Cs were forced to live in enclaves since 1964 by the Makarios regime and by their own nationalists. To his defense it would've been impossible at the time to interview T/C's because of the military situation on the island. But considering he fails to present things in an objective way I doubt he would've had any interest.

He does a great job in blaming the US and British involvement in the events of '74. He also does a great job in blaming EOKA B and the coup of July 15th that was the direct reason for the Turkish invasion that followed a few days later. Of course as a G/C I learned to call it an invasion. If one objectively analyzes the actions of Turkey and all agreements that were in place then invasion might not be the appropriate term. But whatever term we use the fact is the Cypriot constitution allowed the three guarantor powers (namely Turkey, Greece and the UK) to militarily intervene in case of a crisis. So Turkey had every legal right to invade since Greece was obviously behind the coup. Also knowing the person who was in charge of the coup had a lifelong dream for a "final solution" of Turkish Cypriots perhaps one might say Turkey even had a moral obligation to intervene.

However, to present Turkey as the innocent party here will be a stretch of reality as Turkey's plans of capturing part of Cyprus have been on the drawing board since the 50's (and of course so were Greece's plans). Also, after the invasion and since the early 2000's Turkey showed no real interest in solving the problem and withdrawing its troops. This shows that the welfare of the T/Cs was not the only thing on Turkey's mind.

I find Makarios's comments about the percentages of victims with the US population as moronic. This kind of cheap reasoning will go down well with most G/CS though as they've been so well conditioned by Makarios' ideology to find all kinds of excuses to prove that Turks are "barbarians" and that the G/Cs are innocent virgins no matter how you measure it.

Cacoyannis does a great job in presenting EOKA B' ultra-nationalistic views and actions. What he fails to mention though is that EOKA B is a mere splinter group of Makarios' nationalistic ideology that was dominating G/C politics since the 50's. The difference between Makarios's ideology and EOKA B is one of degree. Their immediate goals might have differed but the ideology was one and the same, one of nationalism and division. Let's not forget EOKA B's leader Grivas was Makarios' hand-picked military leader for years.

Cacoyannis fails miserably to apportion the blame on the mainstream nationalistic views that were dominating the island under Makarios regime (sadly these views are alive and well till this very day). Makarios had a direct responsibility in cultivating nationalistic ideology amongst G/Cs which Rauf Denktash among the T/Cs was following step by step. This is the true "Rape Of Cyprus" namely the nationalistic ideologies that were cultivated and supported by Makarios on one hand and Denktash on the other side.

Unfortunately Makarios's nationalistic views not only have survived to this day but have almost completely eliminated any other form of objective reasoning among G/Cs. And this documentary plays a role in perpetuating the myths and half-truths G/Cs are so in love in believing. For this reason I give it the lowest rating.

----------------------------- "Nationalism is an infantile disease"

Touching and unfortunately completely plausible!

[omnimous · 9/10 · 27 July 2021]

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.

A documentary with a style, but not exactly correct

[Exiled_Archangel · 1/10 · 9 June 2004]

A film by Kakogiannis is expected to be good, and this one isn't bad either. I actually decided to buy the DVD after reading the earlier comment on here, so the publishing company should thank the Turkish-American guy :-) Ok here's the deal.. It's a successful documentary, and I found it quite interesting. HOWEVER, as the name says "Rape Of Cyprus", this documentary sort of rapes some facts as well.. The message is: Greek communists are barbaric a**holes, and so are Turks, and they murdered Greek Cypriots for no reason. Well, I know a Greek communist, and she's an unpleasant person, but I'm sure she wouldn't be interested in killing any Cypriot! And the Cyprus tale has two sides to it just like anything else.. Are Turks innocent? No, most definitely not. Are Greeks innocent? Well, they're not either. One way or another, some obnoxious people led by other obnoxious people, started to kill innocent ones, and that's how the happy unity of Cyprus vanished in the haze. Throwing all the guilt on Turks is not a great way to make peace! And let alone Turks, this film is being unfair to Greeks from Greece as well! Where would Southern Cyprus be today without the help from Greece?

Attila '74 is a strong documentary, but apart from its distorted political message, the style it handles the message is somewhat distasteful.

Excellent! Stomach-churning account of the island's most horrific period.

[showcase-1 · 28 April 2004]

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.

Subjective Evaluation of Turkish occupation

[husnumurat · 3/10 · 3 January 2005]

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.

Too subjective

[turkam · 4/10 · 15 July 2002]

As the great director Akira Kurosawa proved in "rashomon," there are many sides to one story. Sure this film by one of Greece's best directors ever has gripping moments, but the film is far from being objective. It should be noted that I am half-Turkish, but I still look forward to a well-balanced docu on the issues aflicting Cyprus. It is an issue everyone should exmaine, but I don't think this film does the job because of its' subjective stance.