DVD - The War Within
Directed by Joseph Castello (Seville/Magnolia)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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Often movies tell too much, and sometimes they don't tell enough. In an effort to make the audience think, director Joseph Castello and writer/actor Ayad Akhtar envelope their take on terrorism with various smoke layers, choking a potentially brilliant plot with vagaries and unexplained twists. Still there's enough clarity left in this engrossing film to warrant viewing, and more importantly, spur debate. The movie revolves entirely around Hassan (Akhtar), a seemingly innocent Pakistani engineering student who is violently abducted from the streets of Paris to endure horrific torture as a suspected terrorist. The movie shifts three years on as Hassan enters America to join a terrorist cell. Flashbacks to his incarceration slip clues, but never serve to clarify why and how the placid Hassan came to this stage. An irritating point that grows as Hassan gets involved with an old friend's family now living happily in the West. There's plenty of temptations to divert his purpose: a welcoming friend who argues for a land where various religious factions can coexist peacefully, a beautiful woman who is obviously smitten, and a young boy just starting to learn what the Muslim faith is all about. As the title suggests, there is an internal, personal war with Muslims, who must decide how to best follow their faith. Yet we don't see that inner turmoil in Hassan. He never once wavers from his goal. Never shows the sympathy we all expect at various crucial stages. It is a frustrating experience, mainly because the tunneled vision of the terrorist is left unexplained. Still the movie succeeds on various levels, and having such a protagonist as the omnipresent focal point - he is in every scene - is a daring move. The director and writer commentary in the bonus features is quite good, and opens up some of the mysteries in the initial viewing.

© 2007 - John Sekerka