|
 

Reality bites back
"September Tapes" is a descent into the hell of the Afghanistan war by three Americans with a camera, a determination to find Osama bin Laden, and no idea what they're getting themselves into.
By JOSHUA TANZER Offoffoff.com
How much of "September Tapes" can you believe? Well, the filmmakers themselves have declared it a "hybrid of fact and fiction," and that's a very disconcerting thing to watch. Wait a minute, you're constantly asking yourself did that just happen or was it staged? Sometimes there's no way to know.
|
| |
| SEPTEMBER TAPES |
Directed by: Christian Johnston.
Produced by: George Calil, Christian Johnston, Judd Payne, Wali Razaqi, Matthew Rhodes.
Written by: Christian Johnston, Christian Van Gregg.
Cast: George Calil, Wali Razaqi, Sunil Sadarangani, Baba Jon.
Edited by: Darren Mann.
Related links:
Official site
|
|
But if you don't agonize over every scene, the film is certainly "true" in the way that a great novel is "true." It shows us the reality of a certain place and time the place being Afghanistan and the time being now.
The conceit is this: Three Americans an Army veteran, a translator and a cameraman set out on a quest into war-torn Afghanistan to interview Osama bin Laden, and all that comes back out is a bundle of videotapes documenting their journey. The reality, or my hunch as to what really happened, is that the three started with a camera and a concept, put themselves into a war zone, and took a real chance with their lives to come back with this only partially staged movie. What happens to them is a story; what happens around them is terrifyingly authentic. If "Survivor" were real, it wouldn't just be about eating some bugs it would be like this.
|
Their odyssey takes them into the homes of gun dealers, through potentially lethal roadblocks, into the desert with the militias, on the ground with AK-47's pointed at their heads, and up to at least the periphery of the real war that's still raging there. The film starts with a lot more talk about the danger than real evidence of it, but the tension level cranks mercilessly up, and by the end we've been through a heart-pounding hell along with these characters. In its handheld-camera simplicity, it's more immediate and wrenching than Hollywood's big-budget war-glorifying extravaganzas.
I've puzzled for weeks over the film's politics, and although there is a certain all-American lone-wolf bravado a little bit of "Rambo Witch Project" to it, I think it navigates this precarious subject without taking sides in a political debate. What it does is to yank us eyes-first into a place that we, in our living rooms, have known only as a cliché. Somewhere in this vast, unreadable desert, bloodthirsty killers lurk, chieftans rove with their posses, American helicopters rain fire, frontier justice rules, and people disappear in an instant.
This may or may not be a true story about hunting Bin Laden, but it is a true enough story about the place where American soldiers have been sent and not always come back. (It also makes the right choice by plunging into almost-forgotten Afghanistan, where the real war on terror has always been, rather than Iraq, site of the diversionary war.) It feels right. "Anything we get will be more than I've seen on TV," says our lead character, Don, as the group arrives in country, and I agree. Americans should flock to see it, if only to get a vivid feeling for what it means next time they hear stories from the "lawless Afghan-Pakistani border." This is that place.
|
SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 OFFOFFOFF.COM THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
Reader comments on September Tapes:
 |
| | september tapes - christian van gregg from g.peploe, Nov. 24, 2004 |
| | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from n. lee, Feb. 22, 2005 |
| | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from rick, April 2, 2005 |
| | | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from Michael George, June 2, 2005 |
| | | DOD declares movie is real from DODRep, April 24, 2005 |
| | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from chet, Aug. 27, 2005 |
| | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from don, Sept. 15, 2005 |
| | | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from randyn calvin, Oct. 12, 2005 |
| | | | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from Chan Jay, Oct. 30, 2006 |
| | | | | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from espionage, March 27, 2008 |
| | | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from Espionage, March 27, 2008 |
| | | Re: september tapes - christian van gregg from David, Sept. 29, 2005 |
 |
| | September tapes from Emu, Nov. 24, 2004 |
| | | Re: September tapes from ruddiger, Sept. 6, 2005 |
| | | | Re: September tapes from chan Jay, Nov. 2, 2006 |
 |
| | september tapes from Sue Van Sant, Jan. 6, 2005 |
| | | Re: september tapes from roger courtney, Jan. 12, 2005 |
 |
| | sept tapes from bile, Jan. 8, 2005 |
| | | Re: sept tapes from Sylvia, Feb. 5, 2005 |
 |
| | September Tapes from Sylvia, Feb. 5, 2005 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from susan gillig, Feb. 7, 2005 |
| | | | Re: September Tapes from ilija, April 9, 2005 |
| | | | Re: September Tapes from Chan Jay, Nov. 2, 2006 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from Nancy Lee, Feb. 7, 2005 |
| | | | Re: September Tapes from Nella Mellott, Feb. 11, 2005 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from Richard, Feb. 9, 2005 |
| | | | Re: September Tapes from ragsdrichest, Feb. 26, 2005 |
| | | | | Re: September Tapes from lisa, March 4, 2005 |
| | | | | Re: September Tapes from Just Love It, March 5, 2005 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from Nella Mellott, March 1, 2005 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from Robert, March 9, 2005 |
 |
| | Sept 8 tapes from niteranger, Feb. 11, 2005 |
 |
| | september tapes - blur people from nadmin, Feb. 16, 2005 |
 |
| | [no subject] from myce, Feb. 28, 2005 |
 |
| | damn stupid movie from ralph, March 15, 2005 |
| | | Re: damn stupid movie from Vic Ram, March 19, 2005 |
| | | Re: damn stupid movie from Lester Van, March 29, 2005 |
 |
| | september tapes from chris, March 21, 2005 |
| | | Re: september tapes from Hector R, March 29, 2005 |
| | | | Re: september tapes from pogpog, May 27, 2005 |
| | | | Best Review Yet from Skjellifetti, Dec. 30, 2005 |
| | | Re: september tapes from Lee Van, March 29, 2005 |
| | | | Re: september tapes from EDWARD NOVA, April 3, 2005 |
 |
| | blind hero from Dominik, April 3, 2005 |
 |
| | What message? from Jills, April 8, 2005 |
 |
| | [no subject] from ilija, April 9, 2005 |
 |
| | Blair Witch redux from Vincent, April 24, 2005 |
 |
| | Don't hate from scocar, April 24, 2005 |
 |
| | Juvenile from M_Vee, April 26, 2005 |
| | | Re: Juvenile from lee sant, April 27, 2005 |
| | | | Re: Juvenile from n/a, May 22, 2005 |
| | | Re: Juvenile from alex, July 10, 2005 |
 |
| | Are You Kidding? from Sommer, May 28, 2005 |
| | | Re: Are You Kidding? from anogi, May 30, 2005 |
| | | | Stupid from whatever, Aug. 15, 2005 |
| | | | Re: Are You Kidding? from michael, Oct. 20, 2005 |
| | | Re: Are You Kidding? from Anonymous, June 10, 2005 |
 |
| | Music.... from Gunnard Doboze, June 17, 2005 |
 |
| | September Tapes from Bill, July 25, 2005 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from Northern neighbor, Aug. 25, 2005 |
 |
| | MAKES ME SICK from , Sept. 17, 2005 |
| | | Re: MAKES ME SICK from George Michael, Oct. 12, 2005 |
 |
| | SEPTEMBER TAPES from Scott, Nov. 7, 2005 |
 |
| | [no subject] from Bubak, Nov. 7, 2005 |
 |
| | Spetember Tapes from Benji, Jan. 31, 2006 |
 |
| | REALISE THE REALITY from b22uk, Feb. 1, 2006 |
 |
| | September Tapes from , Feb. 1, 2006 |
| | | This movie kick ass from Damian Rivas Valdez, Feb. 22, 2006 |
| | | | Re: This movie kick ass from travis tracy, March 15, 2006 |
| | | | | Re: This movie kick ass from WESTON, March 22, 2006 |
| | | | | | Re: This movie kick ass from McKenna Mae Lee, May 9, 2006 |
| | | | | | | Re: This movie kick ass from Steve Van, May 28, 2006 |
| | | | | | | Re: This movie kick ass from Jim Sant, June 20, 2006 |
| | | | | | | | Re: This movie kick ass from mary margaret Pete, July 4, 2006 |
 |
| | positive impressions for strong subject matter from Kasen Courtney, July 20, 2006 |
 |
| | Courage and filmmaking from Broady Bennett, July 20, 2006 |
 |
| | September Tapes from Jami, July 27, 2006 |
| | | Re: September Tapes from may george, Aug. 2, 2006 |
| | | | Re: September Tapes from kg, Aug. 24, 2006 |
| | | | | Re: September Tapes from Ray Lee, Aug. 31, 2006 |
 |
| | Funding ?? from marco, Sept. 11, 2006 |
| | | Re: Funding ?? from gregg lee, Sept. 19, 2006 |
 |
| | Tragic failure from Jumpy, Sept. 27, 2006 |
| | | Re: Tragic failure from Nancy Michael, Oct. 30, 2006 |
| | | | positive impressions for strong subject matter from Lee Babcock, Nov. 4, 2006 |
| | | | | Re: positive impressions for strong subject matter from Claire Van, Jan. 14, 2007 |
 |
| | finally an other view from yojimbo, Dec. 3, 2006 |
 |
| | Amazing film from jon, Jan. 14, 2007 |
 |
| | September Tapes question? Ask me, I made it. from christian Johnston, Feb. 8, 2007 |
| | | Re: September Tapes question? Ask me, I made it. from Nancy Gregg, Feb. 9, 2007 |
 |
| | Great Find! from Nathan Courtney, March 21, 2007 |
 |
| | sept movie from John & Lorri, April 15, 2007 |
 |
| | SEPT 8 TAPES from MARK CARROLL, April 19, 2007 |
 |
| | September Tapes Great Find! from Mary Loring, April 27, 2007 |
 |
| | Hurrah! from summer jones, May 30, 2007 |
 |
| | Interesting production from Jim Courtney, June 28, 2007 |
 |
| | Old-Timer likes 'September Tapes' from August Johnson, July 28, 2007 |
 |
| | Great Find! I bought it! from Hep Nelson, Aug. 21, 2007 |
 |
| | Scumbags! from Andres Duran, Aug. 21, 2007 |
| | | Re: Reply from James Everly, Aug. 28, 2007 |
 |
| | Great Find! from Leisel Leonard, Sept. 27, 2007 |
 |
| | Wow! Why didn't we find this in the theatre? from May Holmes, Nov. 14, 2007 |
| | | Re: Wow! Why didn't we find this in the theatre? from Foreigner, Jan. 11, 2008 |
| | | Re: Wow! Why didn't we find this in the theatre? from Bob Boyd, Feb. 2, 2008 |
| | | | Re: Wow! Why didn't we find this in the theatre? from George Gabriel, March 27, 2008 |
 |
| | Was the Wife on the Plane Real? from Septem8er Tapes, April 24, 2008 |
Post a comment on "September Tapes"
|
|
|