REVIEW

A mini-biography of Benazir Bhutto, almost entirely complimentary and rather condescending at times. The film covered her traumatic return to Pakistan and politics when her father was hanged by Gen. Zia, her stints in prison, her first prime-ministership and political downfall, and her return to power with the backing of the military. They made much of her privileged background and Oxford debating skills, and indeed she was well-spoken, also elegant, used to power and privilage, and a commanding speaker. I wish they'd shown more of her public speaking, but instead there were newsTV shots of her descending from airplanes etc. One impressive scene was of Bhutto at a conference table with the military -- there were all these mustachioed, uniformed men, and she, dramatically different in silk and dupatta, with quite an air of authority. Perhaps unintentionally, the film made it clear that democracy was less in her mind than simple feudalism. Her conversation about whether she or her brother should inherit her father's mantle, the shots of her mother doling out money and dealing with the problems of the poor were incredibly feudal. The film skipped lightly over the cloud of controversy surrounding her husband, who has been accused of crimes from bribery and corruption to murder. It ended with an almost hilarious voice-over which wondered whether she was a powerful conniving politician, a charming woman, or "inside, just a little girl". Puke. Of course, she did set herself up for that last statement by going on and on about how she was made to do all the work in the family when she was a child, and how could her brother betray her by running against her, and so on. It came across as childish rivalry. It struck me that Pakistan, in this film, looked wealthier than India. I didn't see the kinds of crowds and poverty that I'm used to in northern Indian cities. Louiqa disagreed; she thought the film had just been edited to present this picture. As a film, it was full of flaws -- unidentified people kept appearing on the screen to make sometimes pointless pronouncements on Bhutto, opinions (of Bhutto and others) were simply presented without opposing viewpoints. (For example, she said her mother Nusrat politically supported her brother because being a son, she thought he should inherit the Bhutto mantle. This may be true, but I'd like to have heard Nusrat's views.) Bhutto herself, and her clan, is of course a compelling story which fascinated me in spite of the quality of the film. -- Susan Chacko