Coup 53

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Coup 53
Coup 53.jpg
Film poster
Directed byTaghi Amirani
Written byTaghi Amirani
Walter Murch[1]
Produced byTaghi Amirani
Paul Zaentz[1]
StarringRalph Fiennes
CinematographyTaghi Amirani
Simon Fanthorpe
Chris Morphet
Claudia Raschke
Vicente Franco
Ben Richards
Edited byWalter Murch
Music byRobert Miller
Production
company
Release date
  • 31 August 2019 (2019-08-31) (Telluride Film Festival)[2]
Running time
118 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesEnglish
Persian

Coup 53 is a 2019 British documentary about the 1953 Iranian coup d'état to overthrow Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, co-written and directed by Taghi Amirani and co-written and edited by Walter Murch.

Production[]

The film, directed by Taghi Amirani, was edited and co-written by Walter Murch.[3] Amirani devoted several years of sleuthing to research the story behind the 1953 coup. The film describes the departure of Amirani's family from Iran to England and then follows Amirani as he uncovers the evidence of the plot hatched by British and US intelligence, led by the CIA's Kermit Roosevelt Jr.[4]

Central to the documentary is a series of clips in which actor Ralph Fiennes reads from a transcript of an interview with MI6 agent Norman Darbyshire, who admitted to plotting the coup (codenamed "Operation Ajax") together with the CIA.[5][6]

Cast[]

People interviewed by the makers of Coup 53 include:

The documentary also draws on footage from an episode of the 1985 UK TV documentary series End of Empire, produced by Granada Television.[4]

Release[]

Coup 53's world premiere was at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival,[7] and it also played the 2019 BFI London Film Festival.[8] At the 2019 Vancouver International Film Festival,[9] It was released to the general public on 19 August 2020 with an online release in the USA, UK, Canada and Ireland using the platform Eventive. In mid-September 2020, Coup 53 was pulled from its digital distribution platforms. Coup 53 became available again on digital platforms on 18 December 2020.[10]

Reception[]

Coup 53 has received positive reviews from critics. As of September 2020, 100% of the 41 reviews compiled on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 8.08/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Rife with the political intrigue promised by its title, Coup 53 is a spellbinding documentary with the heart of a thriller."[11] The critical aggregator Metacritic awarded the film a score of 80 indicating "generally favorable reviews"[12]

Ann Hornaday wrote in The Washington Post: "It’s a nonfiction film that functions precisely as all documentaries should: as a piece of doggedly investigative, personally transparent reporting, and as simply great storytelling, full stop."[13] In Empire, Ian Freer wrote: "Part political drama, part history lesson, part gripping spy thriller, Coup 53 gives what has been relegated to a small footnote in Iran’s story the big, expansive, dramatic treatment it deserves."[14]

Awards[]

Coup 53 won the Audience Award for Most Popular International Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival.[15] The film received a nomination for Best Documentary, in the British Independent Film Awards.[16] The film won Best Documentary at the MIFF Awards in Italy in December 2020. [17] The film won the Audience Award at the 14th edition of Cinéma Vérité Festival in Iran in December 2020. [18] The film won the Crystal Phoenix Award for best documentary at the Fajr Film Festival in Iran in February 2021. [19]

Controversy[]

The producers of End of Empire: Iran have criticised the portrayal by Coup 53 of their programme[20][21] and produced a website and video to summarise their critiques.[22][23][24] They challenge Coup 53's suggestions that they censored the key interview with Norman Darbyshire in order to downplay MI6's role in the coup. They state that Darbyshire would not agree to be filmed or named, but that the audio-only research interview Alison Rooper conducted with him was important to their work in which they clearly show MI6's role in the coup.[25] The production team and other website contributors object to the film's suggestions that the Darbyshire transcript was "leaked" to Observer columnist Nigel Hawkes or "discovered" by the makers of Coup 53, as the End of Empire: Iran producers in fact openly shared the transcript and all other evidence with both Hawkes in 1985 and with Amirani in 2014.[25][26][27] Website contributors also claim that the film gives insufficient credit for extensively using End of Empire footage and for its pioneering research uncovering British involvement in the coup.[24][23] The veracity of the audio transcript with Norman Darbyshire is not in dispute and can be seen online at the National Security Archive website.[28]

Several contributors to Coup 53 have criticised the film and its use of their contributions. Cameraperson Humphry Trevelyan has retracted his statements in the film, saying that upon reviewing his memories and evidence, he has "had to reach the conclusion that my ‘memory’ of my involvement in a filmed interview with Darbyshire was erroneous", and that he only filmed one interview for the Iran programme, with Sam Falle.[29] Author Stephen Dorril, who is interviewed in Coup 53, has called the film "essentially fraudulent" for its suggestions that it has uncovered suppressed information about Darbyshire, noting that he has discussed Darbyshire in print since 1989, and also suggesting Amirani misled Dorril about evidence of a filmed interview with Darbyshire.[30] Author and End of Empire researcher Cate Haste asked to be removed from Coup 53's credits.[27]

In mid-September 2020, Coup 53 was pulled from its digital distribution platforms. The filmmaker said in an email: “I have some sad news. Due to an archive licensing issue that has been brought to our attention today, we must withdraw the film from all public screenings until the issue is resolved with the copyright holder." On Twitter, the filmmakers announced Coup 53 would “be back soon due to popular demand.”[21]

In November 2020, The Observer reported that Baroness Helena Kennedy had been asked to mediate between the Coup 53 filmmakers and the End of Empire program-makers, but the negotiations had broken down. Amirani and Murch told The Observer that they faced "a painful choice between a long legal battle or making expensive changes to important elements of their film" in order to regain the right to license footage from End of Empire.[31] Coup 53 became available again on digital platforms on 18 December 2020 after ITV granted a new archive license, conditional on 17 specific amendments to the film.[10][26]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "British Films Directory: Film Detail: Coup 53". British Council – Film. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  2. ^ "46th TFF Program Guide Revised" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  3. ^ Tomris Laffly (2019-09-04). "Telluride Film Review: 'Coup 53'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b McCarthy, Todd (September 4, 2019). "'Coup 53': Film Review Telluride". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  5. ^ Rebecca Mead (2019-10-14). "Ralph Fiennes Channels a Real Spook". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  6. ^ "Filmmaker sheds new light on Britain's role in 1953 Iran coup". France24. AFP. 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  7. ^ Fred Topel (2019-08-29). "Telluride Fest honors Renee Zellweger, Adam Driver, announces lineup". UPI. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  8. ^ "Buy tickets for Coup 53". BFI London Film Festival 2019. 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  9. ^ "Coup 53 [programme note]". Vancouver International Film Festival. 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "Watch Coup 53". Coup 53. December 18, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  11. ^ "Coup 53 (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  12. ^ "Critic reviews "Coup 53"". Metacritic. August 21, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  13. ^ Hornaday, Ann (August 18, 2020). "Documentary illuminates the secret history of the 1953 Iranian coup". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  14. ^ Freer, Ian (August 21, 2020). "Coup 53 Review". Empire. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "VIFF announces 2019 People's Choice, Impact and Eco Warrior Award Winners" (Press release). Vancouver International Film Festival. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
  16. ^ Zack Sharf (2019-10-30). "2019 British Indie Film Awards Nominations: 'David Copperfield,' Zellweger, and More". IndieWire. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  17. ^ "COUP 53" (Press release). MIFF. Retrieved Feb 22, 2021.
  18. ^ ""Coup 53", "The Art of Living in Danger" among Oscars eligible doc features". Tehran Times. January 30, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  19. ^ ""Coup 53", "Yadoo" tops at 39th Fajr Film Fsetival". Tehran Times. February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  20. ^ Martin, Paul (August 26, 2020). "British television's éminence grise Brian Lapping joins protest against a new film, and demands censorship allegations be removed". Correspondent World. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b Azizi, Arash (September 24, 2020). "1953 Coup Film Withdrawn Amid Controversy Over False Claim". Iranwire.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  22. ^ "End of Empire: Iran". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  23. ^ Jump up to: a b "The Problems With Coup 53". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b "AUGUST PRESS RELEASE" (Press release). Alison Rooper, Mark Anderson and Norma Percy. 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2021-04-18.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b Lapping, Brian; Percy, Norma; Anderson, Mark; Rooper, Alison. "End of Empire: Iran: About Us". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Lapping, Brian; Percy, Norma; Anderson, Mark; Rooper, Alison (January 5, 2021). "Statement to BAFTA members". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b Haste, Cate (December 16, 2020). "OPEN LETTER from Cate Haste to Taghi Amirani and Walter Murch". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  28. ^ Malcolm Byrne (2019-08-19). "COUP 53: New Documentary on Overthrow of Iran's Mosaddeq". NSArchive. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  29. ^ Trevelyan, Humphry (24 September 2020). "Cameraman retracts statements made in Coup 53". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  30. ^ Dorril, Stephen (11 January 2020). ""This is F***ing Bullshit" by Stephen Dorril". endofempireiran.com. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  31. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (November 1, 2020). "Angry TV film-makers stop release of lauded Iranian documentary". The Observer. Retrieved November 3, 2020.

External links[]

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