Coup 53

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

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

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 August 19th 2020 with an online release in the USA, UK, Canada and Ireland using the platform Eventive.

Reception

Coup 53 won the audience award for Most Popular International Documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival.[10] The film has received a nomination for Best Documentary, in the British Independent Film Awards.[11]

Coup 53 has received positive reviews from critics. As of September 2020, 100% of the 40 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."[12] The critical aggregator Metacritic awarded the film a score of 80 indicating "generally favorable reviews"[13]

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."[14] 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."[15]

Controversy

Brian Lapping, executive producer of End of Empire: Iran, has challenged allegations in Coup 53 of censorship. Lapping wrote: “Your documentary, Coup 53, claims that End of Empire filmed an interview with the MI6 agent Norman Darbyshire that was censored by MI6 and disappeared. This is not true… The transcript you show in Coup 53 is our off-the-record research briefing. We, the makers of the original End of Empire series, never filmed an interview with Darbyshire. We cannot allow these untruths about us and our work to go unchallenged."[16]

In mid-September 2020, Coup 53 was pulled from its digital distribution platforms. The film maker 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 film makers announced Coup 53 would “be back soon due to popular demand.”[17]

In November 2020, The Observer reported that Baroness Helena Kennedy had been asked to mediate between the Coup 53 film makers and the End of Empire programme 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.[18]

Coup 53 became available again on digital platforms on January 11, 2021.[19]

References
  1. "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. 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. "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.
  11. Zack Sharf (2019-10-30). "2019 British Indie Film Awards Nominations: 'David Copperfield,' Zellweger, and More". IndieWire. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  12. "Coup 53 (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  13. "Critic reviews "Coup 53"". Metacritic. August 21, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  14. Hornaday, Ann (August 18, 2020). "Documentary illuminates the secret history of the 1953 Iranian coup". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  15. Freer, Ian (August 21, 2020). "Coup 53 Review". Empire. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  16. 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.
  17. Azizi, Arash (September 24, 2020). "1953 Coup Film Withdrawn Amid Controversy Over False Claim". Iranwire.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  18. Thorpe, Vanessa (November 1, 2020). "Angry TV film-makers stop release of lauded Iranian documentary". The Observer. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  19. "Watch Coup 53". Coup 53. January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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