The War Within

THE WAR WITHIN is a chilling and frightening tale of a Pakistani family torn between the "American dream" and the love and affection for a family member whose religious zeal and goal to destroy America will tear them apart. Joseph Castelo has directed and written a very important film which hopefully will receive a wide audience to educate Americans of the problems we live with today in a "post 9/11/01 United States of America".

The film is a contrast between the world of terrorism, and the warmth of a family who attempt to make Hassan feel at home back in America, and to show him what this country has given them, and what America might also do for him, without giving up their Pakistani heritage, but wanting Hassan to adapt and fit in as they have done. And to live a happy and productive life.

The final scenes are so dramatic and full of suspense and dread as you hope for a "Hollywood ending", only to find that Hassan's personal WAR WITHIN will lead to something else.

America has always been a melting pot and a symbol of hope for those coming to our shores, THE WAR WITHIN is a wonderful example to show an audience that we must still look at diversity as a blessing for America, and not a curse. Thank you Joseph Castelo and Ayad Akhtar for this film.

THE WAR WITHIN is one of the most original and daring films ever made about terrorism because it does not present its suicide bomber protagonist as a religious fanatic. Instead, the anti-hero of the film is an intelligent, thoughtful man who has come to this place in life not out of a simplistic emotional reaction or as a religious zealot, but as a protest and as an almost rational response to mistreatment. The film is riveting and hard to watch (often at the same time) and would make a terrific "class trip" for high school and college educators, or for anyone who appreciates smart movies with no easy answers.

I liked it so much because it is complex and doesn't give easy answers. The War Within starts out with an innocent man walking down the streets of Paris and talking on his cell phone. Out of nowhere, a group of men jump out of a black SUV, grab the man on his cell, throw him into the SUV, and ship him to a prison camp in Pakistan where he is then tortured for the next three years. And all this happens even before the opening credits.

The man on his cell phone is named Hassan, and the men in the black SUV are American CIA agents who kidnap and torture Hassan because (we later learn) his brother lead a peaceful anti-war protest in Afghanistan. Three years later, after enough torture and abuse to drive any man crazy, Hassan is released from prison and travels to America to get his revenge. So clearly he's a bad guy, right? But then again, he was no threat to anyone before he was kidnapped, beaten, and tortured for three years. So then is America the bad guy? What makes The War Within so intelligent and so superb is that isn't a story about good guys and bad guys. It's a story about the mammoth "War on Terror" and how it affects a single group of Pakistani immigrants in New York. The only bad guys are the acts of violence themselves, and all sides of guilty of that. You absolutely have to see this exquisite character study and you have to tell everyone you know to see it, too.

I'm going to be bold and say that this is one of the most enlightening films I have seen in a very long time. Not only is it a phenomenal depiction of Muslim-American life, but it also presents an informative insight to the terrorist ideology that very few Americans understand. Many may think that a movie dealing with terrorism is meant to stir up controversy and dispute. I did not find this movie to be politically-charged nor offensive. It is purely the story of a man struggling with both the anger imposed on him by American intelligence and the happiness he once knew with his close friends. Regardless of your personal beliefs based on religion, terrorism, the war, etc… each and every person who lives in America has something to gain through thought and reflection after seeing this movie.

I had the pleasure of catching The War Within at Toronto last week. It's a deeply striking movie. We all knew it was a matter of time until a movie of this type was made, but no one expected it to be good. Who wants to see a terrorist movie? In this case, we all should. They've created an experience that accurately portrays contemporary ideologies, frightening circumstance, and consequence. The movie grips you from the beginning and holds you. While the stakes are obviously high, it's the character study that makes an impression. To a watch a terrorist, rooted in Islamic fundamentalism, come face to face with the culture and the people he's declared war on is amazing. The complexity of Hassan's situation: the spectrum of his past and division of his present forces the audience to analyze his decision.

For such a candid movie, it leaves us with questions. Fortunately, it's the questions we need to ask.