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terrorism

Hotel Mumbai – Sacrifices for God

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What is a worthy sacrifice to make for one’s gods? Does that sound like a basis for a action thriller? It turns out to be a very important part of Hotel Mumbai, the feature debut of director Anthony Maras. Based on the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai that created three days of chaos in that city, the film focuses on the assault on the famed Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which was one of a dozen targets of the attack.

The Taj is a very upscale hotel, where guests are pampered, especially the VIP guests. That could entail drawing a bath to precisely 47° C, or making sure that a guest’s call girls for the evening are waiting in his room by the time he finishes dinner. As Chef Hemant Oberoi (Anupam Kher) reminds his kitchen and wait staff at the start of their shift, “The guest is god.”

(From L to R) Armie Hammer as “David”, Tilda Cobham-Hervey as “Sally” and Nazanin Boniadi as “Zahra” in director’s Anthony Maras’ HOTEL MUMBAI, a Bleecker Street release. Credit: Kerry Monteen / Bleecker Street

The story revolves around groups within the hotel: the staff, including Oberoi and a young Sikh waiter, Arjun (Dev Patel); the hotel guests, including David (Armie Hammer) and Zahra (Nazanin Boniadi) who are there with their infant child and its nanny Sally (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), and Vasili, a Russian millionaire (Jason Isaacs); and the Pakistani gunmen (Amandeep Singh, Suhail Nayyar, and Manoj Mehra). When the attack begins in a train station, the chaos of the city seems far removed from the peacefulness within the Taj. Indeed, many people run to the Taj to seek safety. But soon gunmen are inside the hotel, randomly killing whoever they come across, and eventually going room to room hunting more victims. As the battle engulfs the hotel, David and Zahra are frantic to know Sally and the baby are safe, but how can they go to get them?

The hotel staff do all they can to provide safety to the guests, eventually taking them a back way to a private club, the most secure place in the hotel. Although some of the staff have escaped to return to their own families, many remain because of the mantra “the guest is god.” The killing continues, the staff keeps acting nobly, the parents and Sally do all they can to try to protect and save the child. The tension is well developed as the story progresses.

But we also get time to know these gunmen who are terrorizing the hotel. They are more than one-dimensional monsters that we might expect. They have been radicalized and trained for this mission, but the more we get to know them, the more human they become. They are following the orders of their leader over the phone, but in time, they begin to question the brutality of what they are doing.

We also learn that a key part of their motivation is that their families are to get money. Just as the waiter Arjun is from a poor family and is trying to provide for his wife and children, these gunmen are doing what they feel they must to provide for their families. That similarity grows through the film.

The other important comparison between the staff and the terrorists is that they see what they are doing as acting on behalf of their gods. “The guest is god” takes on a deeper meaning when we see that the staff is willing to sacrifice themselves in order to protect the guests. For Arjun, it becomes very personal when one of the guests is afraid of him because he wears a turban (a part of the Sikh religious practice), he calmly explains its deep importance it holds, but offers to remove it because she is his guest. While the staff is serving their guests/gods, the terrorists are being told over and over by their leader (who is in constant contact by phone) of the reward their God has waiting for them.

Dev Patel stars as “Arjun” in director Anthony Maras’ HOTEL MUMBAI, a Bleecker Street release. Credit: Kerry Monteen / Bleecker Street

But if both the hotel staff and the gunmen are acting out of their commitment to their gods—even to the point of giving their lives, does that make them equivalent? Certainly not. But we are called on to understand how they differ and which group is offering up a sacrifice that is worthy of their devotion.

People of faith often speak of the ways we serve our gods. How do we judge that service? Is it how intense we are in our actions? Or is it seen not in ourselves but the way our service brings our gods’ love and compassion to the world we have been sent to serve? It is in this way that we can see the value of those in the film who are serving their gods in different ways.

Photos courtesy of Bleecker Street

 

Paths of Blood- Meet Al Qaeda Terrorists

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Path of Blood is an opportunity to meet a few Islamic terrorists. Yeah, not the people I look forward to meeting either, but this documentary from Jonathan Hacker gives us a chance to meet some of those in Al Qaeda and we may be surprised at what we see.

The film is set in the six-year battle between Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and the Saudi security services. That in itself is a reminder to us that most of the things done by Islamic terrorists take place in the Arab world—and kill mostly other Moslems. The film is made up of footage shot by the Saudi security forces and footage that the security forces captured in raids on AQAP safe houses. Much of the captured AQAP footage shows training and some of the wills of suicide bombers made before their deadly missions. The footage made by both sides is presented without commentary, so that viewers can assess these messages for themselves. Those messages present two very different world views, both coming out of understandings of Islam.

In no way does this film glamorize or promote terrorism or Al Qaeda’s philosophy. But it does put a human face on some of those involved. The film opens with a series of outtakes of “Ali’s” martyr video. Ali is something of a class clown and he is constantly messing up, laughing, or joking through these outtakes. He can’t remember the things he’s been told to say in the video. And yet, this is someone whose life will soon be ending. We laugh at Ali and then feel a certain amount of pathos for him, even though we never approve of what he plans to do.

Of course, we may be taken aback a bit when we hear those in Al Qaeda speaking of fighting God’s battle. But we should realize that people of many nations and times have claimed God was on their side in whatever war they were fighting. I found it ironic that AQ speakers frequently referred to non-Arabs in their country as “crusaders”, because the medieval crusaders had the same understanding of what they were doing as AQ: They believed that they were fighting God’s holy war and that to die in the process was a ticket to heaven. The more things change the more they remain the same.

It should be noted that there is some slightly gruesome and cruel footage included in this film. That is natural considering the nature of the footage that has been edited together in this film. But the filmmakers have kept such distasteful visuals at a minimum.

While watching the film, I was mindful that this could easily be seen as a battle between good and evil. However, I was also mindful that both the Saudi security services and AQAP would agree with that assessment—with themselves being on the side of good. That serves as a reminder that people of any faith should be slow to ever claim God is on our side in any war or battle.

Photos courtesy of OR Media/Paladin

In the Fade – Justice? Revenge?

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“They’ll get their punishment. I promise you.”

Justice. Revenge. Are they the same? Are they even related? In the Fade from Fatih Akin is the story of a search for justice, and what happens when that justice is denied. In the Fade is Germany’s official Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film.

Katja (Diane Kruger) has a wonderful life with her husband Nuri and young son Rocco. Her world is shattered when Nuri and Rocco are killed in a terrorist bombing. She can barely make it through the funeral, and her life is spiraling downward until two neo-Nazis are charged with the crime. From there on, her only mission is to see justice done.

The film plays out in three acts, entitled “The Family” (meeting the family, the bombing, the grief), “Justice” (the trial), and “The Sea” (Katja’s actions after the trial). Katja’s grief is the driving force through it all. At times her grief leads her to self-destructive behavior. It is only when she has hope that the killers will be punished that she seems to have a reason to live. But what would happen if things didn’t work out in the trial?

In press notes Akin (who was born in Germany to Turkish immigrant parents) notes that the story is inspired by xenophobic killings by members of the National Socialist Underground. But he chose to make a survivor (Katja) the empathetic center of the film. There is no attempt to justify the murderers’ perspective. Rather we remain totally focused on Katja and her emotional struggle before, during and after the trial. It is in that struggle that Akin is able to take us into the darkness of revenge.

How do we differentiate between justice and vengeance? We often think of the two as almost synonymous. However, justice connotes a high ideal—even a biblical ideal. It is a call to bring things back into alignment. Justice should help to create healing and reconciliation. Revenge, on the other hand, may seem like it is making something right, but in fact it only serves to create more pain and suffering. Revenge may seem like an imperfect form of justice, in that it pays back pain for pain. In the end it is only a counterfeit.

The emotional journey we take with Katja eventually takes us to some very dark possibilities as she responds to injustice. Even in this she is driven more by her grief than by the ideal of justice. The combination of grief, anger, and vengeance leads to a result that may seem inevitable, but fails to leave us feeling that justice or healing has been achieved.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Unlocked: Whom Do You Trust?

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Who can you trust? That concept is central in the new spy thriller from Michael Apted, Unlocked. The story focuses on Alice Racine (Noomi Rapace), who we first see working as a social worker in London. But she used to be one of the CIA’s top interrogators. Her job was to “unlock” the information in people we had captured. A few years ago she failed to break an informant in time to stop a deadly bombing in Paris. Since that time she has been working as an imbed at a social agency, gathering low level info to pass on to MI5.

When the CIA captures someone involved with a plot involving biological weapons, Alice is called back in, even though she no longer trusts herself with such an assignment. But just as she begins to discover the needed intel, she suspects she shouldn’t trust those who have brought her in. But where can she go? Should she go to her mentor Eric Lasch (Michael Douglas), CIA section chief Bob Hunter (John Malkovich), her MI5 contact Emily Knowles (Toni Collette), or Jack Alcott (Orlando Bloom), a military vet who has his own reasons for following terror suspects? The plot twists as Alice seeks to find the truth and stop the attack even while being betrayed by many of those she thought she could rely on.

Such betrayals are nearly always involved in spy thrillers such as this. It shows a world in which there are both external threats and also more hidden diabolical menaces who multiply the dangers. One of the dangers that films like this can have is to use stereotypes and reinforce our fears that are built on them. Is that the case with this film? This film certainly relies on the idea of radicalized Islam as a key feature of the plot. But there are also other factors involved.

SPOILER ALERT

As to the portrayal of Islam in the film, there are indeed terrorists who act out of their understanding of Islam, including a white American who is very involved. But there is a key scene when Alice confronts an imam who is central to the plan. We learn that he has been working to stop the attack, not push it forward. He is seeking to use his religious authority to bring peace, not to do harm. It is the hidden forces within the American government that see the plot as a way to further their own agenda who are the true villains in the story.

END SPOILERS

This brings us back to issues of trust. Alice begins the film unable even to trust herself. And she learns many of those she thought she could trust are unworthy of that trust, but others (including some she only now meets) earn her trust. When we enter into the world of espionage in films, we often assume we know who can be trusted, yet along the way, we begin to see things and people differently. The way Apted and screenwriter Peter O’Brien lead us through this story gives us a chance to have our fears and prejudices challenged. By the time we come out on the other side, we will have discovered that often both our trust and our fears are misplaced.

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate Premiere

 

 

The Magnificent Seven – Righteousness or Revenge?

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“I seek righteousness, as should we all, but I’ll take revenge.”

The Magnificent Seven is a search for both righteousness and revenge even as it considers whether or not the two can coexist. Of course this is not the first version of the story. This is a remake (or really reimagining) of the 1960 John Sturges classic, which in turn was a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece Seven Samurai. (We could even trace all of these back to the prototype Western, Shane.) But while this is not a new story, this incarnation of Mag 7 has more modern sensibilities and concerns. And while in some ways this is a classic Western, there is more to this film than the gunfights (which, by the way, are really well done).

The little farming community of Rose Creek is being oppressed by Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard), the owner of a nearby mine. He has brought in mercenary security people to harass the town folk so they will sell their land for a pittance. After a deadly demonstration of their indifference to the people, newly widowed Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett), sets off to find someone to help. When she sees bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) dispatch a wanted man (and a few of his friends), she tries to hire him to come help her town. When he hears who is doing this, he agrees.

Along the way back he gathers a group—some he knew already and some new hangers on: gambler Josh Faraday (Chris Platt); former Confederate sharpshooter Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) and his current partner Billy Rocks (Byung-Hun Lee); a master of knives, Vasquez, Mexican outlaw (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) whom Chisolm recruits by saying he won’t take him in; mountain man and trapper Jack Horne (Vincent D’Onofrio); and Red Harvest, a Comanche warrior (Martin Sensmeier) who has been told he really doesn’t fit with his tribe. When they get to Rose Creek, they make quick work of the various villains in Bogue’s employ. But they know that in a week’s time Bogue will be able to hire an army to come and squash the town. The seven have that much time to get the town folk ready for the big battle.

One of the more modern perspectives deals with who the villains are in this story. They are not outlaws, rather they operate within the law to terrorize the town. Bogue dresses and acts like a businessman. In the beginning of the story, as the town holds a meeting of how to deal with Bogue, Bogue (and his team of private security) walk into the church where the townspeople are meeting. He proceeds to paint a picture of the gospel of capitalism. It is the idolatrous desire for riches that he sees as driving the American ideal. To stand in the way of such capitalism is to deny the true American god. So unlike previous versions of this story, this reflects a class struggle between working class and the corporate world.

Yet the seven fighters themselves are in neither world. They are wanderers who are not part of a community. They may live by violence and sometimes deceit like Bogue and his men, but they do not prey on the helpless. There is a certain sense of honor, albeit sometimes twisted, that guides them. Where the film comes up short is in the development of the group dynamics. These seven men have varied backgrounds, and sometimes should be at odds with each other. For example, Chisolm fought with the Union, Robicheaux with the Confederacy; one of them had a grandfather killed at the Alamo, Vasquez had a grandfather who fought there with Santa Anna. Yet, the group never seems to have the internal quarrels that we would expect. They are just a bit too harmonious.

It is of interest that the church has an important place within the story. (Although it is not overtly about the church.) The opening scene takes place within the church, but then Bogue’s men set it afire. Through the rest of the story, what remains of the burned church are the most recognizable thing in the town and often tight in the center of the frame. But even though mostly destroyed by Bogue’s men, it still functions strongly. Before the big battle, the townspeople gather in front of the church to pray. The remains of the steeple serve as a key spot for snipers. Some go into the church to reflect on what is about to happen. And the inevitable climactic one-on-one between Chisolm and Bogue takes place on the steps of the chancel.

The presence of the church throughout the story points us to the consideration of righteousness in the midst of a story about revenge. In this story about a battle against evil, we may not be sure there is a place for righteousness at all. Certainly the seven mercenaries don’t really qualify as righteous. (I don’t think its accidental that none of them wears a white hat.) They are killers who operate on both sides of the law (and often in the gray areas between). They are men who live by violence. They have come—some for money, some out of friendship to Chisolm, some for adventure, some for their own personal sense of revenge—to fight a fight that is not really theirs. Yet the righteousness is to be found in the offer of self to save another from injustice and violence.

The church’s place in the film also asks us to consider whether this is a story of redemption. Do the acts of courage and sacrifice made by the seven counteract the less virtuous lives they have led to this point? Are we willing to forgive what they have done before because of what they do now? Or is redemption something else in this story? Should we perhaps not look to the seven as the redeemed, but as the redeemers who set the town free from the oppression of evil? And can redemption come through violence?

Like the other iterations of this story, this film also makes a point that the cost for any such redemption can be very high. Let’s just say that not all the seven ride away at the end of the story. Also, the population of the town is considerably smaller. This may be a victory, but it is not one to be celebrated because there is so much to mourn. Just as the church stands in ruins throughout the film, those left at the end may be mere shells of what they were at the beginning of the movie. It is a reminder that even when winning such battles, it is ultimately a great loss.

Photos courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Columbia Pictures

Imperium: A World of Hatred and Lies

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“There really is only one essential ingredient to fascism—victimhood.”

This political season seems fraught with warnings of fascism and racially charged rhetoric. Campaigns have often used fear and xenophobia as foundations. “Black Lives Matter”, “Blue Lives Matter”, “All Lives Matter” vie for media attention. Sometimes it seems that we are on a powder keg and the fuse is burning. In reality there are those who would like to set off that powder keg, and they may not be who we think they are. Imperium, inspired by real events, is the story of a young FBI agent who infiltrated the White Supremacist movement.

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After radioactive material goes missing from a truck accident, the FBI fears terrorists may have gotten their hands on it and could make a dirty bomb. Most agents are concentrating on possible Islamic terrorists, but Agent Angela Zamparo (Toni Collette) remembers that the Oklahoma City Bombing was done by a White Supremacist hoping to start a race war. She recruits newbie agent Nate Foster (Daniel Radcliffe) to go underground in an attempt to find the culprits.

For Foster it is a descent into a very strange land. He discovers that the movement is much more varied than we might think. It is not a monolith of hate, but rather various groups with some common values that don’t always get along. There are skinheads, groups that try to turn the Bible into Nazi doctrine and use their church as cover for their activities, a nationally known hatemongering radio host, even nice middle class people who host suburban barbeques and listen to classical music all the while espousing racial animosity.

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These are not just angry, crazy people (although some certainly are). They see the world through lenses that reflect not just racism, but are tied to a whole set of literature and philosophy that may have no credence outside the movement, but is taken as ultimate truth by those within it. Such certainly makes it nearly impossible to bring reason into the discussion.

While the film is designed as an action-thriller (and works moderately well as such), it may better serve as exposure to the depth of the hatred that exists in parts of our society. We may often think it is a small and therefore powerless group, but many of the ideas they espouse have found their ways into the political discussion this year in seemingly acceptable forms. Hatred and fear, especially when cloaked in lies purporting to be truth, is not what either America or the Kingdom of God are about. Perhaps this film will help us recognize the kinds of language that have given rise in some people’s minds of the threat of fascism in the current political climate.

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate Premiere