bhutto: a review of the documentary

As a child growing up in the United States, I never hesitated to brag about Benazir Bhutto.

After all, she was a female leader of a Muslim nation. The United States never had a female representing it as a president or vice president. Hell, the closest women came to a mainstream presidential ticket was the vice presidential nominee for the GOP, Sarah Palin who was seen more as a setback to women's rights than anything. When feminists in my history classes would rage over the lack of female leadership in government, I would laugh and point at that my country, Pakistan, beat the United States to it with Benazir.

However, I was simply a shameless name-dropper.

At the time, I could not grasp the idea of Benazir Bhutto. I knew snippets from what I had heard and read. Views on her ranged from the heroine of Pakistan to the co-orchestrator of corrupt deals with her husband, the infamous Mr. Ten Percent, Asif Ali Zardari. Absolutely everyone I knew from Pakistan had an opinion on her-- everyone but me. For me, she was an enigma. I was in Canada when my aunt woke me up to the news of her death in 2007. I simply rolled over and went back to sleep, a reaction I later regretted. I tried to love her, to hate her, to feel anything about one of the most controversial women in Pakistani history, but I couldn't. I just didn't understand her enough to form a solid opinion.

Luckily, the Washington D.C. premiere of the critically acclaimed documentary Bhutto took place on July 7, 2010 and I found myself reserving a ticket last second. I realized that with watching the documentary, I learned more about Bhutto than I could have through a book or article. It wasn’t about Bhutto the politician, but rather Bhutto the woman, the mother, the sister, the daughter. She became humanized in my eyes.

The premiere itself began with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, walking in. Instantly, the chatter hushed down to excited whispers and gasps as one of the most powerful women in America walked into the auditorium in order to pay homage to her late friend, Bhutto. Speaker Pelosi was asked to make a speech at the very last second so she kept her speech short and sincere. She spoke of one of her earliest memories of Bhutto was when the former prime minister spoke in front of a joint session of Congress and uttered the famous line, “democracy is the best revenge.” That single line summed up the entire documentary.

One of the opening scenes of Bhutto includes a voiceover of Benazir recalling that no one visited her mother in the hospital for three days because they mourned the birth of a daughter. Those mourners would obviously be shocked that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto chose his eldest daughter, not his eldest son, to succeed him and eventually become the most powerful woman in Pakistan. A very interesting choice made in the production of the documentary was to have Benazir Bhutto narrate her own story using snippets from audiotapes. Using her words, story of the Bhuttos unfolded in an interesting narrative marred with the execution of her father, the poisoning of one brother, and the shooting of the other.

The filmmakers placed her life story into historical context, showing how the turbulence in the politics of Pakistan affected her as a person. The story of Bhutto’s life begins with the career of her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Footage of his infamous speech to the United Nations Security Council shows him ripping up a piece of paper and stomping out of the room, showing exactly where Benazir inherited her conviction from. Bhutto quickly skimmed through his rise and fall in Pakistani politics, showing his desperation to hold on to power as his appointed of Chief of Army Staff Zia ul-Haq took control of the country through an illegitimate military coup d’état. The documentary continued through to describe the tragedies that befell her family, her political marriage to Asif Ali Zardari, her stints as Prime Minister—everything all the way up to her tragic death in 2007.

Her life was a tragedy indeed and the footage from the documentary caused one to sympathize with her. Her public breakdowns in reaction to the loss of both of her brothers to politically-charged murders caused tears to appear in my eyes—her pain was so transparent. I could not understand how anyone could accuse her of being the plotter of Murtaza’s assassination because her emotions after his death were so raw. The documentary featured interviews from her husband, sister, daughters, and son, allowing one to put aside their politics for a second to remember that Benazir was a human being just like the rest of us. Rather than merely showing Bhutto as a political entity, the filmmakers humanized this enigmatic woman.

Bhutto's most prominent traits, her conviction and bravery, were heavily emphasized throughout the documentary. Despite numerous threats on her life, she still held on to her beliefs. Despite being a woman, she never let that hold her down. During Zia ul-Haq’s regime, she was held in solitary confinement for months, coming to the brink of death. Still, she survived and went abroad to continue her fight for democracy in Pakistan. Even in 2007, Bhutto knew that there was a chance of death. An interview with her daughters described how their mother wished them a happy birthday early because she was not sure whether she would survive or not. Even with these doubts, Benazir returned to Pakistan. One could see her dauntlessness as she refused to hide behind bulletproof windows. And that’s exactly when my respect for her increased tenfold. No matter what allegations were pressed against her, she was ready to fight the charges. She was unafraid.

However, I must admit, the film had a transparent bias slanting towards Bhutto. Although the filmmakers, much to their credit, featured much screen time for interviews from critics of Bhutto such as Fatima Bhutto and Former President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf, they undermined the critical opinions with interviews from Bhutto supporters. In response to Fatima’s accusations of Bhutto being a key player in the role of her father’s death, pro-Bhutto interviewees such as Ms. Sanam Bhutto said that she was “angry” over her father’s death. As a friend of mine pointed out, it was such an easy way to disarm Fatima’s comments by claiming that she was simply ‘hurting’ and didn’t know what she was talking about. Most of the documentary was simply praise for Bhutto’s intrepidity and how she stood steadfast against the regimes that threatened democracy in Pakistan.

From a technical aspect, even critics of Bhutto must admit that the editing and graphics were impressive. The filmmakers were no James Cameron but they made the production successful with their choice of special effects. The music was set perfectly to the mood of the scene, a steady crescendo reaching its climax during heated moments. Both Pakistani music and Western songs were present, perhaps symbolizing Bhutto’s belief that Pakistan could coexist peacefully with the West. The story itself was told through footage from historical moments and photographs, complemented by interviews from important Pakistani political leaders, friends, and family of Bhutto.

At the end of the day, my opinion of Benazir Bhutto changed completely. Despite an obvious bias in the film, I would highly suggest watching the documentary. It showed the life of a woman, a life that was snatched away in an instant. It was both powerful and moving. Bhutto hits theaters later this year. Do not miss it.