The War Within

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 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.

Contrary to what some have written here, "The War Within" is not anti-American. The film, written by Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo and Tom Glynn, raises some intriguing questions and questions some of our government's actions. Doing that isn't anti-American. Questioning what our leaders do, the orders they give, the policies they install is very American.

"The War Within" never portrays American people as evil or xenophobic. Quite the opposite. But Akhtar, Castelo and Glynn never dig beneath the surface of their story to probe characters' motivations or even some important issues, such as extraordinary renditions. Isn't that a wonderful euphemism for transporting terror suspects - emphasis on suspects - to countries of their origin so that they can be tortured and our leaders can absolve themselves by saying, "We do not torture?"

The trouble with this film is that we never get to see Hassan's (Akhtar) inner turmoil, the war within himself. There's no internal conflict here - we don't see him grappling with moral issues. He has his mind set on his mission and nothing will make him change his mind, not even the love of a woman.

For this film to work, the transformation of Hassan is absolutely crucial. Unfortunately, that is handled with a simple super-imposed title card: "Three Years Later." Huh? Those three years are imperative. We never find out what made him change. Why he did it, especially given his obviously western influences. Had the writers bothered to delve into the hows and whys, it would have made for a crackerjack movie.

As much as our illustrious leader would like to simplify the enemy's reasoning with, "They hate our freedoms," the actual issue is far more complex than that. And this film avoids a terrific opportunity to tap into that complexity and show the western world what it is that makes a seemingly rational man to so drastically change his world view that he's willing to commit unimaginable horrors.

Who has such power that they're able to convert people? How do they operate? What is their mode of operation? What do they teach? How do they manipulate seemingly well-educated adults? The writers and director, who also is Castelo, never bother to ask, let alone answer, these questions. Instead, much of the plotting seems rather superficial.

Castelo wants us to understand Hassan, but never gives us any insight into his character. We never even find out whether Hassan really was innocent? Just addressing that simple issue would have added such depth to this film and to his character.

The filmmakers raise the interesting point about whether we really know the people who are close to us. And there are brief glimpses of brilliance when we see how children can easily be manipulated by unethical adults. That still doesn't answer how an adult can be turned around.

"The War Within" is an admirable attempt to show us another, very important and oft-ignored, side of post-9/11 America. Castelo gets good performances from his actors. But he shortchanges them with a story that never taps its full potential.

It's a good sign that there are intrepid filmmakers out there willing to make movies that dare to tackle such issues. In this case, Castelo could have been a bit more daring to really get into his lead character's skin to reveal a complex person. "The War Within" never is as provocative as it ought to be and that's a shame.

i am a Muslim, an Iranian..and have known the torture the people of such countries as Iran, Pakistan...south Americans survive and endure I think the director takes us on the journey of the struggle a man has after he has been terrorized, terrified, and hypnotized by the fanatical pain and rage that drives him to destroy a family he loves, a soul that no loner can bear the memories of his own torture. a brave and true vision of what a fanatical suicide bomber lives, what drives him. so beautifully shot, and sad to see how a man can lose all that he loves . a touching, brave film...Joseph Castello is a director to watch . the actors follow his lead and invite us into the struggle of the man and his inner war. a film to see and think about. it is real