So much average

Pretty Good

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This film proves yet again that culture unites people. Majid Shokor, an Iraqui living in exile in Australia, is determined to find out the roots of Iraqui popular music, and seeks out many musicians old and younger as well as musicologists. Jews, Muslims and Christians all created a rich tapestry of music heard in Baghdad during the mid- 20th century, but Shokor finds that the younger generation in Iraq believes this music is folk music and are unaware of who actually wrote and performed it, particularly that many of the most influential musicians were Jewish. Much history was purged over the years. Shokor's efforts to find the truth culminate in a concert of Iraqui music at the Barbican Center in London in 2012, an event of rediscovery, celebration and reconciliation. This extraordinary film has been making the rounds of festivals since 2015, and is definitely worth searching out.