[simonveal]

I enjoyed this film, but I can't help thinking it would have been better if it had been shorter (it's well over 2 hours long). The really interesting bits are where he tells the story of Afghanistan from the 1940s onwards. I found this absolutely fascinating, but this probably totals less than half the running time.

The rest is raw footage from the country since 2001. While this is also fascinating (and harrowing and distressing in many places) the overall length is only really going to prevent people from getting to the end and understanding the whole story. Given that Curtis's stated aim is to tell the whole story, without the simplifications that modern news media requires, the length seems to counteract that aim.

[dredmorbius]

There's a lot of slack time, I'll grant that. It's also quite curious how it plays out -- there are many clips shown with little or no explanation. I'm only about an hour into the video myself at the moment, but the example of the Karzai assassination attempt shown comes to mind.

[cmsj]

I wondered if it was a deliberate device to make us feel the confusing complexity that can't just be neatly explained by a simple voiceover narrative, which was kinda the point of the show.

[fit2rule]

That's what I'm getting out of this as well. We're supposed to think about this; its supposed to give us a jolt. Talking about it critically is the desired result, no?

Well, it happens here. It doesn't happen too much "out there" ..

[JonnieCache]

It's definitely supposed to be confusing and illegible as far as I can tell. The program as a whole is about the lack of linear narratives in modern events.

[dredmorbius]

I see it as absolutely deliberate. See my top-level comment just posted.