Bitter Lake
2015 · Movie · 135 min · ★ 7.6 · 75% critics
This experimental documentary looks at the long, complicated ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia and how they connect to the conflict in Afghanistan. It uses a mix of archive material and reflection to show how simple public stories can hide a much messier reality.
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Details
- Years
- 2015
- Release date
- 2015-01-24
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Critic score
- 75/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.6/10 (93 votes)
About
You may like Bitter Lake if you enjoy slow, challenging documentaries that question simple political stories and use lots of archive material; not for you if you want a straightforward, tightly guided history lesson, or something like HyperNormalisation.
Pros: bold, unusual approach; striking archive footage; thought-provoking themes | Cons: very long; uneven focus; can feel hard to follow
Themes
- politics
- manipulation
- manipulation of the media
- control
- fear
- media manipulation
- media & politics
- political documentary
- media appropriation
- documentary
- war documentary
- experimental documentary
- +1 more
Awards & recognition
- IFFR audience award · 2015 · nominated
Cast & crew
Adam Curtis
as Narrator
George H. W. Bush
as Self (archive footage)
George W. Bush
as Self (archive footage)
- JH
Joanne Herring
as Self (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan
as Self (archive footage)
Directed by Adam Curtis