Mountain of Servants
- 2014
- 14m
YOUR RATING
In a sleepy hilltop settlement above the plains of Mesopotamia, an ancient Christian minority struggles to survive in the land of their birth.In a sleepy hilltop settlement above the plains of Mesopotamia, an ancient Christian minority struggles to survive in the land of their birth.In a sleepy hilltop settlement above the plains of Mesopotamia, an ancient Christian minority struggles to survive in the land of their birth.
- Director
- Writer
- Star
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writer
- Star
Photos
John Cavanagh
- Narrator
- (voice)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
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Storyline
Featured review
Worthy as a subject, professional as a delivery, but not forceful enough (or clear enough) about the delivery
In south-east Turkey, a small community of Syriac Christians struggle to protect what is left of their culture in their own homeland, as troubles drive the younger generation away, and violence and persecution down the generations continues to rest a heavy cultural weight on the people. The film talks to 5 people about their culture and the future.
Even the least informed of people know now to raise a thoughtful eyebrow when someone mentions a Christian community based in the south-eastern corner of Turkey; if nothing else they are not short of others who would do them harm, but more generally their individual culture is under pressures caused by such thing – namely migration to Europe. The film looks at this community and does so with very good access to the people and the place; it was a very good looking film throughout and technically I do not have much to say against it. The problems I had with it were more based on the content. Some may say that a good documentary maker does not force an agenda or point into their subject, but lets the subject speak for itself – personally I think a good documentary maker is one that makes it look like that is what they are doing, while they do it. This film is not so clear on the message, mainly because I think it doesn't have one so much as just showing us a picture. Mostly this is fine, because it speaks for itself, but I was not sure of the issue to hear about the community leaving the homeland to seek safer lives for the individual – it seems perfectly sane, and a "community" has no value if all the people who stay in it are suffering or killed (or both). This is reinforced by the end credits telling us of ISIS' mass abduction of people – which makes me feel more on the side of the people leaving (who we do not hear from) as opposed to those who stay.
This mixed message is not overcome by the film helping the viewer over that, and showing how the community is more valuable than that, and a loss that goes beyond the opinions of those people we hear speaking, and it does limit the engagement. I said technically the film is strong – and mostly it is, but the narration is not part of that. I was in two minds on it. At the start the hushed, respectful tones sounded almost like a spoof of David Attenborough, and it made me chuckle to listen to it. Then I thought that it was so much like a wildlife documentary narration that it must be deliberate, and that the suggestion was that the subjects are endangered species – a clever approach if it were true (not to say it works though) but nothing in the film supports this view.
A worthy film for the subject, and technically well made, but one without a real aim for the heart of the matter, nor one that really helps the subjects lay out their stall in the clear and engaging way it should have.
Even the least informed of people know now to raise a thoughtful eyebrow when someone mentions a Christian community based in the south-eastern corner of Turkey; if nothing else they are not short of others who would do them harm, but more generally their individual culture is under pressures caused by such thing – namely migration to Europe. The film looks at this community and does so with very good access to the people and the place; it was a very good looking film throughout and technically I do not have much to say against it. The problems I had with it were more based on the content. Some may say that a good documentary maker does not force an agenda or point into their subject, but lets the subject speak for itself – personally I think a good documentary maker is one that makes it look like that is what they are doing, while they do it. This film is not so clear on the message, mainly because I think it doesn't have one so much as just showing us a picture. Mostly this is fine, because it speaks for itself, but I was not sure of the issue to hear about the community leaving the homeland to seek safer lives for the individual – it seems perfectly sane, and a "community" has no value if all the people who stay in it are suffering or killed (or both). This is reinforced by the end credits telling us of ISIS' mass abduction of people – which makes me feel more on the side of the people leaving (who we do not hear from) as opposed to those who stay.
This mixed message is not overcome by the film helping the viewer over that, and showing how the community is more valuable than that, and a loss that goes beyond the opinions of those people we hear speaking, and it does limit the engagement. I said technically the film is strong – and mostly it is, but the narration is not part of that. I was in two minds on it. At the start the hushed, respectful tones sounded almost like a spoof of David Attenborough, and it made me chuckle to listen to it. Then I thought that it was so much like a wildlife documentary narration that it must be deliberate, and that the suggestion was that the subjects are endangered species – a clever approach if it were true (not to say it works though) but nothing in the film supports this view.
A worthy film for the subject, and technically well made, but one without a real aim for the heart of the matter, nor one that really helps the subjects lay out their stall in the clear and engaging way it should have.
helpful•02
- bob the moo
- Sep 25, 2015
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- Runtime14 minutes
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