Rewatch Nichols, Sorkin, Hanks, Hoffman's "Charlie Wilson's War"

[SleeplessinSoCal]

Keep this discussion about the "Zen Master" near the end in mind:

I watched it again yesterday. Given it was released in 2007, that discussion rings truer than ever. Aaron Sorkin truly tapped into the heart of the matter. Made me do more digging.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistan

[forest444]

1. One of my favorite biopics.

Yes, it was mostly CIA propaganda; but it was full of insights as well - a real peek into the workings and the mindset, presumably, of people dealing with that kind of pressure.

[longship]

2. A great film. Mike Nichols at his best.

The cast is damned good. Phillip Seymour Hoffman chews the scenery as Gust. Hanks does, too, as Charlie Wilson. Julia Roberts does too!

The scene with the Israeli guy is hilarious!

The scene in the refugee camp is devastating.

Well worth a viewing.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

3. While rewatching it yesterday I wondered about one thing in partucular.

The scene when Wilson is briefed by the CIA man in Afghanistan, who says we don't want any attention. That we are trying to make Afghanistan The Soviets' "Vietnam". What if Wilson was never advised by the Christian lady in Houston? Would that original plan played out better for everyone? What would have been the "terrible" part of that?

[longship]

4. Who knows, since that didn't happen.

Since Ms. Herring did influence Wilson, such speculation does not inform one of anything. The situation was far more complex.

Nichols' point, made by Hanks' Wilson near the end of the flick in the committee room is what I took away from it.

"That ball, it keeps on bouncing."

And it did. Horribly.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

5. I think it worth speculating and following the dots.

Sort of Monday morning quarterbacking, but via Aaron Sorkin. It didn't hit me in 2007 the way it did when I watched it yesterday. The Soviet Union's history there deserves another movie. And if you try to research the times before the Soviet troops went in, you find a lot of revisionist history on-line.

I have no idea if this source is totally reliable, but I think it more trustworthy than others I came across.

https://www.britannica.com/event/Soviet-invasion-of-Afghanistan

In April 1978 Afghanistan’s centrist government, headed by Pres. Mohammad Daud Khan, was overthrown by left-wing military officers led by Nur Mohammad Taraki. Power was thereafter shared by two Marxist-Leninist political groups, the People’s (Khalq) Party and the Banner (Parcham) Party—which had earlier emerged from a single organization, the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan—and had reunited in an uneasy coalition shortly before the coup. The new government, which had little popular support, forged close ties with the Soviet Union, launched ruthless purges of all domestic opposition, and began extensive land and social reforms that were bitterly resented by the devoutly Muslim and largely anticommunist population. Insurgencies arose against the government among both tribal and urban groups, and all of these—known collectively as the mujahideen (Arabic mujāhidūn, “those who engage in jihad”)—were Islamic in orientation.

These uprisings, along with internal fighting and coups within the government between the People’s and Banner factions, prompted the Soviets to invade the country on the night of Dec. 24, 1979,

[SleeplessinSoCal]

6. I continue to bump into things on the internet that brings back plot points in this movie

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/7/1466930/-Company-endorsed-by-Rudy-Giuliani-and-Rush-Limbaugh-fined-100-million-for-scamming-customers?detail=email&link_id=2&can_id=e884142de5b174eef7a66b06dfd63542&source=email-unbelievable-meet-the-press-misogyny-nana-clinton-do-they-even-hear-themselves-a-rant&email_referrer=unbelievable-meet-the-press-misogyny-nana-clinton-do-they-even-hear-themselves-a-rant&email_subject=unbelievable-meet-the-press-misogyny-nana-clinton-do-they-even-hear-themselves-a-rant

Rudy strikes again!