Bhutto - Movie Review - 2010

Filmmakers Duane Baughman and Johnny O'Hara present a stirring biographical documentary about Benazir Bhutto, one of history's most fascinating and tragic political leaders.

In brief, Benazir, born in 1953 into an influential Pakistani family, studied at Harvard and Oxford, entered a traditional Muslim arranged marriage and became the first woman to rule an Islamic nation.

During the 1970s, Benazir Bhutto's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, became the first democratically elected president of Pakistan, but subsequently fell victim to 'judicial assassination.' Benazir swore to avenge him by running for office and keeping democracy and moderation alive in Pakistan. Under the banner of the Pakistan People's Party, which had been founded by her father, she twice became Pakistan's Prime Minister, but was each time charged with corruption and removed from office. She went into voluntary exile in Dubai in 1998.

Determined to prevent Pakistan's military from establishing an entrenched dictatorship in the country, Benazir returned to Pakistan in 2007, after reaching an agreement with President Pervez Musharraf that all corruption charges against her would be dropped and intended to run for office again. She was sure to win, but was assassinated on December 27, 2008, two weeks before the scheduled election.

Nobody knows how Pakistan's complex political and cultural realities would have evolved under Benazir Bhutto's leadership. But this film certainly stimulates conjecture. Benazir was brilliant, brave, determined and charismatic. She is certainly a character of heroic proportions and her larger than life story is well told in this well researched and compelling biographical documentary.

• Afghan Star
• The Dixie Chicks: Shut Up And Sing
• Blessed Is The Match
• RFK Must Die
• Oswald's Ghost

Film Details:

• Title: Bhutto
• Directors: Duane Baughman and Johnny O'Mara
• Premiere: January 21, 2010 at Sundance Film Festival
• Theatrical release: November, 2010
• Broadcast premiere date: May 10, 2011 (PBS Independent Lens)
• Running time: 111 minutes
• Parents Guide: Add content advisory for parents
• Country: Pakistan, UK
• Language: English
• Distribution: First Run Features
• Official Website
• Trailer