Review №2

Rendition (2007)

Cast: 

Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Omar Metwally.

Director: 

Gavin Hood

Synopsis:

 Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) - Egyptian-born chemical engineer, but with  Lawful Permanent Residence in the USA, mysteriously vanishes on a routine flight from South Africa to Washington. His American wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), in her turn, embarks on an international search for her missing husband. At the same time, a CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrives at a clandestine detention facility outside of the United States, where he is forced to interrogate  El-Ibrahimi using unorthodox methods......

Review:

     The story centers on the covert arrest of Egyptian born chemical engineer and, at the same time, a football coach in the American school. On his way home to the USA he is captured by CIA agents on suspicion of implication in the terrorist suicide attack. Then he is sent to North Africa to  a secret detention facility near the location of that suicide attack, where he is tortured and interrogated. Meanwhile, his wife Isabella desperately tries to find him with the help of her old friend Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) who is Senator Hawkins' aid. But what Alan does is just advises her to find a good lawyer who knows what to do in such cases. Isabella doesn't want to believe that her husband is involved in terrorist organizations and refuses. In fact, what Anwar is accused of is just supposed phone calls from the terrorists and his Egyptian origin, in spite of the fact, that most of his life he has spent in the USA and his examination on the lie detector showed him to be innocent. So, I think here we see an example of how the government's anxiety about its people in practice ruins them, and the "democratic" country shows its real face, using tortures to innocent people and telling everybody that they are the most tolerant nation in the world.
    Douglas Freeman is a CIA analyst who survives in the suicide bombing that kills his co-worker, and is roped into observing the torture of  Anwar El-Ibrahimi as a part of an investigation.Such job is new for him and soon he cannot stand it, uderstanding that Anwar is innocent. Douglas, at his own risk, releases Anwar and does what he can to return him back to a normal life (leaks the details of Anwar's detention to the American press, creating a scandal). Douglas shows us an example that even in such organizations like CIA can be people not indifferent to breaches of justice and who can be responsible for their decisions, not afraiding of the possible consequences.
     Another story line here is that of Abasi Fawal, his daughter Fatima and her boyfriend Khali. Abasi Fawal is  a high-ranking police official,who cooperates with CIA and interrogates Anwar, torturing him. Asabi himself is the target of the suicide attack.  Asabi founds his daughter Fatima a new husband, but being in love with Khali, she rans away from her home as a protest. Later she founds out that Khali belongs to the terrorist organization and his mission is to kill her father. She tries to stop him when it is too late and, as a result, the explosion takes place which kills them both. Here we see an example of how teenagers have become the victims of cruel, ruthless people and the strict political regime.
    As for the perfomance, I think that the cast is superb. Reese Witherspoon, in spite of that her heroine is pregnant ,can show her as a brave woman able to do everything to find her husband. Jake Gyllenhaal (one of my favourite actors) demonstrates us a CIA agent with a heart who is capable of not doing things under orders and can point out to his superiours that they are wrong.Omar Metwally deserves ovations for his portrayal of Anwar El-Ibrahimi. His suffering during the  torture makes you feel sympathy for his hero. Meryl Streep makes her work as brilliantly as usual. I think that such roles as in this film are her best ones. But the greatest impression on me has made the actress who performs Khali's grandmother (sorry I don't know her name). Watching her I couldn't help feeling that she reminds me of my own grandmother. Her emotions are the most realistic ones during the whole film. When she cried I cried with her.
   All in all, such films as "Rendition" make us think of different problems. The main one here is the problem of terrorism. There is no justification for it. Terrorism nowadays is assosiated with Islam, but I don't think that this religion as well as others allows to kill people and make suicides. To make it clear, I want to say that true Muslims are supposed to lead their lives according to the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which are the holy books for all Muslims. The real meaning of Islam is submission to almighty Allah and that means peace. From that point of view any terroristic act is a disgrace for a Muslim. As for Jihad, it means to strive and struggle for Allah, not to kill. And to strive and struggle for Allah, you should first correct yourself, learn Islam properly, become a good Muslim, help and be kind to people regardless of their religion, culture, values, race, etc. So there can't be a place to suicide attacks for Allah....Besides, this film shows us a real face of the USA, a country, where in fact, there is no place for democracy at all. A really democratic country cannot caught, torture and interrogate innocent people just because it has unchecked information about their supposed "crime".
I like this film, it makes me think of how much pain and grief people can bring to each other.