FictionThatMatters.org

Beyond Rambo

A wide gulf separates Rambo from the new terrorist thrillers. In Rambo movies, the disaffected (and slightly tweaked) Vietnam vet John Rambo dispatches terrorists with guns and explosives, all extensions of his — and America’s — manhood. The terrorists drop like flies, he gets the girl, and all is right with the world. Until the next time.

Far easier to make a Rambo movie than any nuanced thriller, and let’s face it, Rambo goes better with beer. He also lends a certain logic to a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Thankfully, the new terrorist thrillers offer a staggering leap of creativity beyond this Manichean, good-versus-evil viewpoint.

Our obsession with terrorism in the 21st century can be directly traced to the attacks of September 11th. Before the attacks, our former president played golf and chainsawed wood on his ranch, and Hollywood was producing a delightful coterie of the next great threat — aliens.

But terrorism has shaped American policy in this decade more than any other single issue. So it is with relief that two films have transcended Rambo’s bandoliers, and taken terrorism seriously. Rendition (2007) and Traitor (2008) aren’t perfect but they make a real effort to address terrorism head-on, while still letting you reach for the popcorn.

Rendition
Directed by Gavin Hood
Written by Kelley Sane
2007. 122 minutes.

In Rendition, a successful chemical engineer boards a plane from Cape Town to the U.S. and suddenly finds himself hooded and whisked off to Egypt as part of the ‘extraordinary rendition’ program. Few questions are asked as he is moved from secret detention facilities to a medieval underground prison. A series of unlikely coincidences have connected him to a rogue terrorist cell in Cairo, and, although he has lived in the U.S. for decades, the U.S. government intends to extract information from him at any cost. His wife and child are never informed of his disappearance. As the gears of justice grind to a halt, he undergoes horrific tortures. His narrative is paralleled by the tale of a hard-line Egyptian security minister, who strives to keep his beautiful young daughter from marrying outside her set. The two stories gradually intertwine in captivating ways. In both countries, loyalty is governed by kinship and friendship, and violence can wrest these bonds painfully apart.

Birthed by Clinton, turned into Frankenstein by Bush

The extraordinary rendition program began under President Clinton and was significantly enhanced under the Bush Administration. Simply put, the U.S. outsourced the interrogation of subjects to foreign countries when doing so would violate domestic laws and due process. The decision was made that national security outweighed the right to a fair trial. Evidence that could be revealed in open court might condemn the country to further terrorist attacks.

Estimates of people ‘rendered’ to secret detention facilities range into the several hundreds.

The term ‘rendition’ itself smacks of foul play. The same term is used when animal fat is ‘rendered’ into soap, when that which is superfluous is boiled into something that cleans.

The frightening revelation of Rendition is the extent to which evidence that would be dismissed as circumstantial in open court becomes probative in the face of torture. The interrogators lap up dribbles of coerced testimony when common sense suggests that it has been fabricated. Coerced testimony has been abolished from American law, yet when foreigners act against Americans the law does not apply to them.

Traitor
Written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff
2008, 114 minutes.

In Traitor, a rogue weapons dealer of Sudanese-American descent named Samir (Don Cheadle) is arrested in Yemen during a sting operation. In prison he befriends Omar (Said Taghmaoui), a member of a terrorist cell, who helps him break out, and the two band together in a jihadist mission. But as the cell commits further and further to its cause, Cheadle becomes torn between his allegiances. American FBI agents are tightening a dragnet around the two friends. Succeeding in the jihadist mission will require a drastic sacrifice.

Cut to the Chase

Unlike Rendition, Traitor does not examine a real-life government policy. Instead the film delves into the speculative thrills of a regular action flick while remaining grounded in its characters. In other words, Traitor feels current but less topical than Rendition. Traitor does not so much educate as entertain. The bulk of the film depicts Samir and Omar’s attempts to bomb embassies and decimate larger targets, and painstakingly elaborates the organizational structure of the jihadist group. Cheadle holds the film together with a reserved, stoical performance that makes you question his loyalties throughout the fast-paced action. In Traitor you watch a car chase and then an explosion; in Rendition, the car explodes without the chase.

Twisting the Night Away

Of the two films, Rendition is better acted and more complex. This is not to denigrate the lead actors Cheadle or Taghmaoui in Traitor, but Rendition benefits from assured performances in the American and Egyptian roles alike. The stars are there: Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, and Alan Arkin, but the supporting actors make Rendition work. Indeed, Yigal Naor, who plays the Egyptian security minister, steals the screen along with Peter Sarsgaard as an aide to a U.S. senator. The lovely Zineb Oakach and her romantic interest Moa Khouas also distinguish themselves.

The acting is only part of the reason why these two films matter. Another is that they are buoyed by unpredictable plot-twists. In Rendition, the twist elevates the film to an excellent drama, while in Traitor the twist curtly punctuates an entertaining movie.

Almost there

The two films also make a noteworthy (if not entirely successful) attempt to turn the jihadists into real life people. In this sense, Traitor is the better film, as it reveals mutual compassion within the jihadists. But neither film convinced me why a terrorist would really want to kill everyone who stood in his way. There must be logical and intelligent terrorists — I’ve yet to see a depiction of one in a film who wasn’t either completely insane or animated by some primal lust. And until we see one (in a film, that is) I can’t see how we’ll get closer to understanding them.

–Deji Olukotun

Would you like to know more?

President Obama has made admirable strides in ending the rendition policy. A few days after entering office, he issued an executive order banning all CIA detention facilities. However, he also established a “task force” to determine whether some of their methods were appropriate. This battle is not over yet. Read the full executive order here.

Frighteningly, a scenario quite similar to the one depicted in Rendition did occur. And the so-called intelligence garnered from torturing a terrorist suspect was used by Colin Powell to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The suspect has since died in a Libyan prison. Read the Human Rights Watch report here.