You Will Love And Hate This Film

Rating: 6/10 (7 December 2005)

This is one of the best and worst films ever to grace the screen - critics will love and hate it with equal measure.
The hatred spawns from almost 3 hours of unspectacular cinematography, amazing cast with no-one giving a stand-out performance, a leaning towards Jewish sympathies in the most complicated conflict the modern world has known and a basic feeling of "why was this film made?" However these simplistic first impressions must be put to one side as this film is an epic unfolding of human emotional drama. Eric Bana hasn't given such a powerful performance since "Chopper" and the rest of the cast support admirably. The shot selection is equally average but this too only adds to the power of the story. This film is totally focused on story - and, boy, is it focused on story.
If you don't know about the narrative you will be shocked. The story speeds through emotions and locations like an express. Terrorists are bad, Governments are worse. Violence creates violence and the gun has never solved any conflict. A "War on Terror" creates a hydra effect and more terror, not less. And the violence is shocking - a woman three seats down from me was retching at one point. There isn't "Saving Private Ryan" excessive gore but up close and personal murder.
This film will struggle at the box office because the content is intense and the length will work against it. And it may struggle at international award ceremonies as no one area stands out. But, for me, this makes the film so special. We're talking Spielberg here and there is no fluffy, happy ending. In fact (spoiler alert!) the twin towers have been digitally put in to the film to emphasise the ultimate point of this film and a warning for our generation from the past. As the Isrealis discovered in the 1970s, so America and Britain are discovering today - you cannot fight fire with fire: terrorism will never be destroyed by violence.