This movie has incredible scenery, excellent acting, and a plot that relentlessly converges toward a horror which is right off the front pages of today's newspapers. The human cost of current events is vividly translated into the tension in a marriage which is the casualty of the zeitgeist of denial and naiveté which pervades the West, pitted against the inexorable dedication demonstrated by radical Islam.
The cinematography is breathtaking, both in Europe and in Cappadocia, Turkey. The exotic surroundings of unique scenery including underground cities and fairy chimneys drives home the immense divide between the familiar West and the unfamiliar Islamic world. An absolutely breathtaking dance by the whirling dervishes, accompanied by an explanation of the meaning of the dance illustrates that this divide is far deeper than a geographic one. The reactions of the two westerners form the archetypes which drive the film. The husband is uncomfortable and suspicious, the wife both eager to embrace and credulous. Even the differences in perceived causality are delineated with skill -- was it a chance encounter from a broken fan belt or the will of Allah? The movie builds on this sharp divide, exploring its implications on both a personal level, and in the context of current and future events.
You should not miss seeing this film. Obviously it was not made in Hollywood, because it fails the current absolute mandate of political correctness imposed by the dinosaur culture there. It fails to meet the requirement that any evil be tied to America, and actually criticizes a branch of a religion other than Christianity. Keitel was truly courageous to have stuck his neck out to star in this film. From the shock and awe it has caused some of the apologists for radical Islam who are in a lather and giving this movie ones and twos, Keitel will doubtless be blacklisted in the American film industry for years to come.
That kind of courage demands that you see it and make up your own mind.
The cinematography is breathtaking, both in Europe and in Cappadocia, Turkey. The exotic surroundings of unique scenery including underground cities and fairy chimneys drives home the immense divide between the familiar West and the unfamiliar Islamic world. An absolutely breathtaking dance by the whirling dervishes, accompanied by an explanation of the meaning of the dance illustrates that this divide is far deeper than a geographic one. The reactions of the two westerners form the archetypes which drive the film. The husband is uncomfortable and suspicious, the wife both eager to embrace and credulous. Even the differences in perceived causality are delineated with skill -- was it a chance encounter from a broken fan belt or the will of Allah? The movie builds on this sharp divide, exploring its implications on both a personal level, and in the context of current and future events.
You should not miss seeing this film. Obviously it was not made in Hollywood, because it fails the current absolute mandate of political correctness imposed by the dinosaur culture there. It fails to meet the requirement that any evil be tied to America, and actually criticizes a branch of a religion other than Christianity. Keitel was truly courageous to have stuck his neck out to star in this film. From the shock and awe it has caused some of the apologists for radical Islam who are in a lather and giving this movie ones and twos, Keitel will doubtless be blacklisted in the American film industry for years to come.
That kind of courage demands that you see it and make up your own mind.