Coup 53( 2019)

TV-MADocumentaryHistory

76%

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Old secrets cast long shadows

Overview

Tehran, Iran, August 19, 1953. A group of Iranian conspirators who, with the approval of the deposed tyrant Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, have conspired with agents of the British MI6 and the US CIA, manage to put an end to the democratic government led by Mohammad Mosaddegh, a dramatic event that will begin the tragic era of coups d'état that, orchestrated by the CIA, will take place, over the following decades, in dozens of countries around the world.

Top Billed Cast

Ralph Fiennes
Self - Actor / Norman Darbyshire
Taghi Amirani
Self - Filmmaker
Farhad Diba
Self - Mossadegh's Nephew
Malcolm Byrne
Self - Researcher
Stephen Kinzer
Self - Writer
Walter Murch
Self - Film Editor
Ervand Abrahamian
Self - Writer
Alison Rooper
Self - End of Empire (1985) Researcher
David Owen
Self - Politician
Mark Anderson
Self - End of Empire (1985) Producer (voice)
Humphry Trevelyan
Self - End of Empire (1985) Cameraman
Chris Morphet
Self - Cameraman
Rameza Mahsani
Self - Former Ferry Boat Captain
Adbolzahra Baghlani
Self - Former Gardener
Ghobad Fakhimi
Self - Former Oil Engineer
Nigel Hawkes
Self - Journalist (voice)
Stephen Dorril
Self - Writer
Hamid Ahmadi
Self - Researcher
Mousa Mehran
Self - Mossadegh's Former Bodyguard
Ardeshir Zahedi
Self - Former Politician
David Talbot
Self - Writer
Siavush Randjbar-Daemi
Self - Historian
Ahmad Djalili
Self - Photojournalist
Haj Habib
Self - Butcher
Abdolmajid Bayat
Self - Mossadegh's Grandson
Esmail Yazdi
Self - Mossadegh's Doctor
Andrew Goddard
Loyal Guard
Kane Morrell
Colonel Nassiri
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Winston Churchill
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Richard Nixon
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Mohammad Mosaddegh
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Julian Amery
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Kermit Roosevelt
Self - CIA Officer (archive footage)
Bernie Sanders
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Frank Reynolds
Self - Anchorman (archive footage)
Peter Ramsbotham
Self - British Official (archive footage)
Donald Logan
Self - British Official (archive footage)
Henry Grady
Self - US Diplomat (archive footage)
Sam Falle
Self - British Official (archive footage)
Stephen Meade
Self - CIA Agent (archive footage)
Nasrollah Fatemi
Self - Iranian Diplomat (archive footage)
Peter Avery
Self - Teacher (archive footage)
Eric Drake
Self - Refinery Manager (archive footage)
Fouad Rouhani
Self - Legal Advisor (archive footage)
Frank Soskice
Self - UK Attorney General (archive footage)
Harry S. Truman
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Basil Jackson
Self - Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. VP (archive footage)
Joe Addison
Self - Lawyer (archive footage)
Shapour Bakhtiar
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Abolhassan Banisadr
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Fazlollah Zahedi
Self - Army General (archive footage)
George Middleton
Self - British Official (archive footage)
George McGhee
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Joseph McCarthy
Self - Politician (archive footage)
John Foster Dulles
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Richard Cottam
Self - CIA Officer (archive footage)
Fereydoun Azarnour
Self - Tudeh Militant (archive footage)
Princess Ashraf Pahlavi of Iran
Self - Shah's Sister (archive footage)
Mehdi Homayouni
Self - Royal Guard / Tudeh Militant (archive footage)
Abol-Ghasem Kashani
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Alireza Saheb
Self - Mossadegh's Aide (archive footage)
Nematollah Nassiri
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari
Self - Queen Consort (archive footage)
Amir Pishdad
Self - Medical Student (1953) (archive footage)
Abbas Aghelizadeh
Self - Tudeh Militant (archive footage)
Efraim Halevy
Self - Mossad Head (archive footage)
Jacobo Árbenz
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Jimmy Carter
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Ruhollah Khomeini
Self - Politician (archive footage)
Donald Trump
Self - Politician (archive footage)

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Review 1Discussion

A review by CitygalSF

Written by CitygalSF on Sat Jan 11 2020

This important movie, over 4 years in the making, is even more pertinent today, with renewed tensions with Iran. Prodigious research underlies the revelation of British leadership in the coup that re-installed the Shah of Iran. The film provides evidence and context for subsequent events, without losing focus on the overthrow of a democratically elected leader to preserve British oil interests at Abadan. Currently making the rounds of the festival circuit, the producers are trying for a wide release as soon as possible. The persistence of the director and editing by Murch combine for a film t...