"America takes care of its own.."
RATING: 9/10
What if one of our cities became the target for terror? What can we do? What can America really do about the increasing threat of terrorism? What basic human rights are we willing to sacrifice to prevent another Oklahoma City disaster? So far America has been the leading nation, opposing the fundamentalist terrorists around the world. It is the land of opportunities. It is the land of freedom. But what if it became the new target? This dark fantasy has unfortunately a very strong grounding in reality.
When a special branch of the United States military, under the command of General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis), takes prisoner suspected terrorist mastermind Sheik Ahmed Bin Talal, Islamic fundamentalists across the world take notice. The only warning the FBI receives is a single, cryptic message: "Release him." Then all hell breaks loose in New York. A bus is destroyed, killing 25 civilians. A Broadway theater is bombed. Hostages are taken at a school. As the wave of terrorist activity crests, the President must consider if the only way to save the city and break the grip of fear is to declare martial law. Devereaux argues against that eventuality, but is nevertheless ready to lead 10,000 men into action on American soil. Another person not in favor of martial law is Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington), the FBI agent in charge of investigating the terrorist activities. His staff is comprised of smart, energetic, intelligent men and women very much unlike the usual group o! f moronic Feds we're used to seeing in movies. Hubbard develops an uneasy alliance with CIA agent Elise Kraft (Annette Bening), whose department knows more about the situation than they're willing to reveal. But the attacks escalate. The FBI are helpless, chasing an invisible enemy. The land is under siege. They have lost control..A terror is coming from within..
What's great about this film is that it is made as if holding up a mirror to life. It reflects reality. And that's why it makes such an impact. Edward Zwick has created a clever, well written and terrifying thriller that may very well be one of the best films of the season. The director manages to tell several stories simultaneously. And so his film plays on several levels, never loosing focus on its main objective. He is exploring the abuse of power, the distrustful relationships that exist between various segments of the U.S. government (the army, the FBI, and the CIA). He takes a look at the complexities inherent when so many secrets and lies are involved. The Palestinian community in 1998 New York is treated exactly as Japanese Americans were during World War II. There are concentration camps and unlawful interments, all in the name of the "greater good." In the latter part of the film the land of opportunities looses its heart and soul -- freedom. Was that what the terror! ists really wanted?
This film has evoked protests and objections from the Arab-American population in the U.S. and N.Y. especially. But to me these protests seem unnecessary. Zwick is careful to not step over the line and make the Palestinians typical Hollywood bad guys. The script is therefore wonderfully balanced. Agent Hubbard's best friend and loyal colleague Frank Haddad (Tony Shalhoub) is Lebanese-American. And it is quite often you hear lines such as "My first boyfriend was Palestinian. They seduce you with their suffering" or "They love this country as much as we do." But no matter how you twist this matter, you won't get away from the fact that when it comes to world wide terrorism it is Arab-speaking population who are in the great majority. More to the point, The Siege demonstrates the injustice of blanket condemnation of any ethnic group by depicting the unfair treatment of all Arab-Americans by the U.S. military. And thus this film does not serve as a source for discrimination in any! way.
Denzel Washington is dashing as always. In this role he is much more determined and stronger than usual. Anette Bening is enjoyable and believable as a shadowy CIA operative who prefers espionage, a network of snitches and seduction to gather information.. Bruce Willis is terrifying as the sadist, hungry for power, that never looses his connection with the audience, since his point of view is not too hard to understand.
The film is elegantly shaped. The scenes are easily floating into each other and the film never seems overlong. Zwick knows exactly how to provoke tension, horror and emotions and does it with a rarely observed professionalism. He tightens the intensity as the events progress. And when a plot twist comes, it actually is surprising. It is not a film drained in patriotism, like the work of Roland Emerich. Nor is it a film that portrays explosions purely for entertainment values. It is a daring picture that has courage enough to undertake such a risky story and difficult journey. It has courage enough to get involved in politics. It questions our foreign policies, mentality and defense. I must admit that it ends rather disappointing, as the director turns the patriotism way up and innovation down. But despite of that, it is certainly an intelligent and thrilling film that provokes emotions and thoughts; a virtue that few summer films can boast of.
"This is the U.S. army. It's a broadsword, not a scalpel. Believe me, you do not want us in an American city" - Gen.William Devereaux, "The Siege"
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews