Tit For Tat

Rating: 7/10 (17 October 2006)

It's easy to see whence this derived so much of its cinematic power: from pure unflinching realism. But more than that, from clever construction of the visual narrative using hand-held footage within moving vehicles (presaging "The French Connection") and the analysis through 'surveillance' cameras.
In terms of what we demand from film today, this is all quite retro. Its ideas have long since been absorbed into mainstream film -- recent topical examples include "Red Dawn" and "The Siege". Today, we expect a narrative game with the viewer; there's none to be had here, just an ugly reminder of the end days of European colonialism.
Unfortunately, historical revisionists seize on this as 'evidence' of Western hegemony and injustice - as if Islam never occupied and forced into dhimmitude major tracts of Europe for centuries. Or as if Islam never harried Mediterranean Christians and enslaved them in vast numbers (Americans, too, among them - remember our war with the Barbary coast over this issue - enshrined in the 'shores of Tripoli' from the Marines' Hymn). Or as if armed intervention wasn't necessary to decisively turn that tide in the West's favor. The fact that Europeans/Americans can criticize themselves in film, but Arab Muslims will never direct criticism at themselves speaks to the deeply inherent cultural superiority of the West, and tends to make us stronger.