Claire Dunne One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

cix_one Maybe my hopes were too high for this movie, but in the end it was a let-down. First, a few good things I can say about it: The images are great, footage is interesting and fresh. As others mentioned, it is a documentary following Iraqis and only Iraqis in a country torn by war, and that angle itself is somehow novel for what is shaping up to be the "Iraqi Documentary" genre.That being said, I have yet to see the relevance of following (for thirty minutes!) the life of a kid who's very special among his peers in that it has to repeat first grade four times. If this were a documentary about how the Iraqi education system accommodates students with disabilities, then the first fragment would be right on. But that wasn't the intent of the movie, as far as I can tell. I expected the documentary to give me a glimpse into the life of an average Iraqi, and - especially the first fragment, which for me set the mood for the entire movie - failed to do that.Overall the movie lacks cohesive glue. It's a collection of (albeit beautifully shot) fragments clobbered together. Maybe more bake time in the editing room could have made a difference, who knows... It feels to me like one could splice in at any point footage of a cat crossing the road, and the movie would not be worse for it. Especially if you like cats.

zetes Well, I finally found the very best documentary from 2006. This exploration of Iraq is reminiscent of the beautiful ethnographic documentaries (and faux-documentaries) of pioneer Robert J. Flaherty. The images are awe-inspiring and completely indelible. The film is broken into three parts. In the first segment, we follow the life of an 11 year-old Sunni boy in Baghdad. The second depicts Shia Muslims in Southern Iraq, particularly the followers of Moqtada al-Sadr. And the third follows a Kurdish family in Northern Iraq. Unlike Flaherty's documentaries, Longley's film is entirely real. The man spent two years wandering Iraq by himself with a camera starting in April of 2003, less than a month after George W. Bush famously declared that major military operations were complete. He's a white man, and it's stunning that he was able to infiltrate these people and film them on such an intimate level. The first and third segments probably held their own danger, but the second segment is especially impressive. How in Hell was Langley able to accompany Shi'ites as they kidnapped alcohol-peddling shopkeepers? It's mind-boggling. This is a rare documentary that is both informative and incredibly cinematic. As a whole, I think Iraq in Fragments comes pretty close to being a masterpiece. There's a silhouetted sequence of some Kurdish kids burning a tractor tire that is one of the most gorgeous shots I've ever seen. Definitely one of the best films of 2006.

proptwistr The most important thing lacking in my understanding of the problems in the Middle East and Iraq in particular is knowledge about the people and their beliefs. This film provides a tiny peephole into what drives Iraqis and what they feel is important. A very revealing aspect of the film is how Muslim religious leaders are able to get followers to exact justice upon those who don't agree with their religious beliefs. An incident where market vendors who are accused of selling alcohol are abused and kidnapped makes is easy to see how Iraqis, driven by religious zealots, can perpetrate such atrocities. Overall, this piece of work is amazing for its ability to get close to the everyday Iraqi and to give the viewer an unbiased glimpse of what life is like for them.

janbanke most docu films I see are less than exceptional in terms of cinema style. this is an exception. in Iraq in Fragments you get both the revelation of Iraq's reality from within society and also the eye of a true filmmaker. exceptional, beautiful work of cinema art and a very important documentary film. i think this film will be a landmark work in future years. this film is returning to something like the time when images were more important than text/language. in other words, this is a film that uses CINEMA language to speak with. it is truly unusual this way, not like any documentary in i saw in a long long time. maybe this is a new direction for documentary film. i hope so.