talalghebehsyr
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
7 years
Reviews
The White Helmets (2016)
Review from a Syrian
This documentary is about the Syrian Civil Defense or "The White Helmets" as the film makers decided to name them. It focuses on the personal side of the characters trying to make the viewer perceive these people as human beings rather than numbers you hear on the news. While the film succeeds at the emotional part, it fails to offer much else. There were many repetitive scenes for a 40 min documentary, and the focus on some characters went overboard sometimes.
Now, I wrote the previous part of my review trying to be as objective as possible. The next part, I will write as a Syrian who isn't on any of the many sides of the Syrian war. What made me write this review, my first on IMDb, is that I noticed many negative reviews seeming to push a propaganda opposite to the propaganda they were claiming this film is about. Comments I have high confidence they come from Syrian Assad supporters so I thought I would try to restore the balance.
While the film clearly favors the side of the WHs, their side itself is about "saving lives" regardless of any other factors so what is there to disagree with? Some commentators said the WHs are terrorists/islamists/etc and I find that really insulting as I don't myself live in a war zone in Syria, I never heard anyone questioning or criticizing WHs. Also, common sense tells me these people don't have to lie about their intentions in a country where there are countless factions fighting. Everyone is free to have their own opinion, but when most of the 1-star reviews come from 1 review accounts I find it fishy - one reviewer stating "England" as his country starts with "Shame on the western-world", a prevalent statement in the Al-Assad regime media.
Syria is a country where many evils fight. You have Al-Assad, factions affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and finally ISIS!! Each side will try to convince you with their story, like Assad fan base in many of the comments I mentioned, but the real story in Syria is about many villains fighting over the pie of things like power/oil/location and poor people suffering in the crossfire. The only light one can find in this tragedy is people like the ones in this movie whose mandate is save lives. Thank you White Helmets!
Now, I wrote the previous part of my review trying to be as objective as possible. The next part, I will write as a Syrian who isn't on any of the many sides of the Syrian war. What made me write this review, my first on IMDb, is that I noticed many negative reviews seeming to push a propaganda opposite to the propaganda they were claiming this film is about. Comments I have high confidence they come from Syrian Assad supporters so I thought I would try to restore the balance.
While the film clearly favors the side of the WHs, their side itself is about "saving lives" regardless of any other factors so what is there to disagree with? Some commentators said the WHs are terrorists/islamists/etc and I find that really insulting as I don't myself live in a war zone in Syria, I never heard anyone questioning or criticizing WHs. Also, common sense tells me these people don't have to lie about their intentions in a country where there are countless factions fighting. Everyone is free to have their own opinion, but when most of the 1-star reviews come from 1 review accounts I find it fishy - one reviewer stating "England" as his country starts with "Shame on the western-world", a prevalent statement in the Al-Assad regime media.
Syria is a country where many evils fight. You have Al-Assad, factions affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and finally ISIS!! Each side will try to convince you with their story, like Assad fan base in many of the comments I mentioned, but the real story in Syria is about many villains fighting over the pie of things like power/oil/location and poor people suffering in the crossfire. The only light one can find in this tragedy is people like the ones in this movie whose mandate is save lives. Thank you White Helmets!