The Hamburg Cell

source: The Hamburg Cell

If you give this movie some quality time you are in for a treat. Not a gratuitous shallow treat, but a gripping story that believably explains how suicide bombers come into being. This film really made me think. By 'quality time' I mean that you need to watch this movie whilst sober with no other distractions. The film is not wham bham thank you mam, and whilst the film is also not a crime thriller with multiple twists and turns, you really need to be able to concentrate on the whole film to get the most out of it. Probably the best DocuDrama I have seen to date. Note: I only watched the film because a friend is in it (he's pretty good too, as the sleazy recruiter at the beginning) but am very pleased that I did.

There is no doubt about it, this is a controversial movie, and it took me a while to see it. Missing it at the Edinburgh Film Festival really got to me but I managed to see it just recently. I understand that it doesn't yet have a US\Canada release and although there have been talks, nothing has yet been signed up, and no wonder. The subject matter is focused on one of the hijackers of the September 11th Twin Towers attack. Yes. Very controversial and highly emotionally charged topic. The first thing I'd say about the movie is it is portrayed as an unbiased movie, however that isn't quite true but it's clear to see why. The movie solely rests with the hijackers and the lead up to those terrible events of September the 11th but doesn't concentrate on the events of that day, there are a few shots that remind you of the actual attack, but detail isn't entered into and I think that actually is a good thing. There's a lot of strong feeling about that day, and very rightly so, but in a movie which tries to take no sides, concentrating on the events would clearly fill any sane person with great sadness and a strong anger against the hijackers and the groups to which they belong. Okay, so let's put that part to the side and try and concentrate on the movie itself. Antonio Bird has carried through Ronan Bennett's story very well, documenting the process of the main character, Ziad Jarrah played by Karim Salah, transforming from a Western Muslim living the life of a typical student, to a Muslim extremist. Salah portrays the role excellently, carrying with total believability, the slow change. He starts as a typical student, interested in his own life and ignoring his initial upbringings looking at love and life as a Doctor. Slowly, he is indoctored into a group of Muslims, rediscovering his religion, and from there an extremist pulls him across to their cause and the change in the character is small but obvious. He becomes strong, self assured, and angry. This carries on for much of the movie, but when the realisations of what is happening and what he is committing to become more apparent, his love for his wife and their Western life come into contention. From the outset this movie shocks, and it does very well in showing what was behind one of the hijackers. What isn't so good is it doesn't quite hit the mark on this very change. I could see what changed him, and I could understand the peer and religious pressure around him (this is very eloquently shown in the movie) but you still find yourself asking why? A vital few steps are missing, and this may purely be down to the lack of historical information, or the complexity of the subject. Although an even more difficult subject, I felt the religious and Jihad side could be tackled more, but that might have made the film more inaccessible to the mainstream Western audience. In the end, the movie condemns what these people did with an extremely loud voice, but not from the extreme Western view that can often be heard today, but from the characters words and actions throughout their brief history. Indeed some of the victim support groups from that day have applauded the release of a film to understand the fundamentalist mindset. This movie is well worth watching, believe me when I say it isn't all from the side of the hijackers, and it does not attempt in the slightest to justify events, it is an attempt at understanding.

I saw this movie back in Dubai last year during its premiere in the Dubai International Film Festival. The thing I liked most about this movie was the fact that it wasn't biased towards a certain point of view, and even though I believe that you can't have complete objectivity in anything, I think this movie did a superb job in trying to portray the entire process of how those students became suicide bombers, which is something I'm sure people wonder about nowadays, especially in the west. At the same time, it also shows the intelligence mishaps that were played out by the US government before 9/11. What I found amusing was that the entire Arab audience that watched the movie was angry and started singing their song..."it shows all Arabs as terrorists...etc" whereas half of the other audience (non-Arabs) didn't feel it was like that at all, and naturally the entire audience ignored the actors and the producers during the Q and A session and started arguing amongst each other. Which basically shows how controversial this movie is and why it hasn't really been released yet. A shame really. I think the American audience (and the rest of the world) could use a little more light on the incident. In conclusion, I hope it can be released soon so I can own it on DVD asap. It's definitely worth watching again and again.

I am surprised at some of the negative comments made about this movie. I didn't see anything controversial in its handling of the 9/11 Bombings. People who opposed the Points of View expressed in "Hamburg Plot" were probably the same people who felt that Osama Bin Laden shouldn't have been Time Magazine's Man of the Year (when he clearly should have been). America believes in dissent and the characters in the "Hamburg Cell" expressively portrayed a certain point of View. I agree overall with the rating of 6/7 Given the movie. This was a good movie that showed a different point of View. I especially liked the Male and Female Leads.

As I began watching this film on HBO, I started to feel uneasy because all the trademarks of a TV Movie-of-the-week began to manifest- boring cinematography, unrefined performances, contrived momentum, etc. However, as the film progressed, I was drawn into certain story angles, and the plight of some of the lead characters became engrossing. Kamel's understated performance as Atta, as well as the two young leads playing husband and wife, kept me interested. The film gradually grinded into thriller territory, and the final moments were admittedly chilling and well-constructed by director Antonia Bird. However, what was most lacking from this film were the PSYCHOLOGICAL motivations of the characters. A story of such grand scope is difficult to tell in detail, as one can assume, but the most important elements driving these characters- the disgust and anger towards American foreign policy- seemed left out of this film. It seemed "hinted at" in certain scenes, but the screenplay never fully explored the burning hatred from the inside. It was still unclear to me why the once-agnostic Lebanese medical student allowed himself to be so easily roped in by the cell's extremist philosophies. Had the screenplay explored this in more detail, this film would be what it should have been- a tragic portrait of manifested hatred among young, misguided Islamic jihadists.

The Hamburg Cell is a docudrama about the cell of Muslim fundamentalists that conducted the 9/11 attack. It starts about 5 years before 9/11 and follows many of the pilots in their efforts to get flight training and covers what was going on in some of their private lives. Not sure how much of it was accurate, seemed pretty realistic to me. Most seemed to just be looking for some fulfillment in their lives, but chose an extreme way to get it. It also shows the missteps, in hindsight, by US law enforcement agencies as these people could have been caught many times during their training. I don't think it really explained the reasons the terrorists chose to conduct their attack, but I guess we will never really know all the facts behind it. Technically a good film with few continuity errors and some good cinematography. The acting seemed a little hollow.

I was waiting for a public service announcement at the end saying, "Terrorists- they are not bad people, just mis-informed". Ugh. You know, I am a well educated person; I am in no way "close-minded". Don't serve me a platter full of dung and tell me it is actually desert. I don't like it when writers and/or directors pull the emo trip on their audience, especially with this particular subject. Hitler was a bad guy, I don't see any films about him being mis-understood. These terrorists (and don't forget to call them what they were) were not mis-informed. Nor was this something that they did out of panic, instinct, or defense. This was one of the most well planned, and yes, thought out, murders in history. There's more blame insinuated on the American leaders then the terrorist (who are indeed made out to be martyrs). For a film maker to put out such a piece of propaganda, in hopes to make people understand what these poor mis-guided people had to go through, reminds me of why I own a DVD player- I don't have to worry about crap like this coming through my video monitor. On a technical level this film worked. In fact, if this tragedy had not happened, and this was just a story it probably wouldn't have bothered me as much. But I know the reality of this, and unfortunately there are people who are actually forgetting the truth and reality behind it. Film can do that. Which, is why i'll stick to my own viewing collection. What's on tonight's list...I think i'll watch "Cannibal Holocaust"...

I just saw this movie on cable TV here in Australia and really liked it. It actually gave me goose bumps as it was really eerie. The actors were wonderful and the writing is exemplary as it really gave the story a human face without sympathizing with the act of terrorism. It showed how strange it is in this day and age that grown men can be so brainwashed into thinking that once they commit such a terrible act against humanity that they are going up into Paradise where Virgins are waiting for them. Nowhere in the Koran or the Modern Muslim world would this be accepted. THese terrorists had minds of their own and in no way would be supported by a rational Muslim society. I thought to myself while watching this movie, the Holy Prophet Mohammed would have been disgusted with this act if he were watching from above. The Prophet Mohammed was such a humanitarian that he would not have supported this kind of terrorism in any way. I hope this movie has shown people the effect of brainwashing and what it can lead to - Just like the David Koresh's of the world or the other Cult leader who had his whole cult commit mass suicide - Brainwashing is the worst thing that can happen to someone. So please let these kinds of movies or acts be a lesson to us all and not let ourselves get caught up in such IGNORANT beliefs and doctrines as to lose our humanity. Peace be upon everyone in the whole world! Now is the time we all need each other - No matter what religion we are! TAKE CARE EVERYONE!

Understated docu-drama following the men who planned and carried out the attacks of 9/11 "When the world talks about the men who carried out this holy operation they will be talking about the men who changed the course of history," exclaims a senior Al Qaeda member in this fictional docu-drama from director Antonia Bird. Charting the planning and execution of the World Trade Center attacks by a handful of Muslim fundamentalists led by Mohamed Atta (Kamel), The Hamburg Cell is a devastatingly powerful work that puts faces and personalities to the men who carried out the attacks against the US on the fateful morning of September 11th. Based on a wide range of documentary evidence, from court transcriptions to video footage, this simmering yet understated little movie focuses on Lebanese student Ziad Jarrah (Saleh) as he's transformed from rich-boy student at the University of Applied Science in Hamburg to jihadist hijacker of United Airlines flight 93 (which crashed en route to the White House shortly after simultaneous attacks struck the Twin Towers and the Pentagon). It's a difficult journey. Immersing us in the secretive, clandestine world of these fundamentalists as they indoctrinate new recruits, train at terrorist camps in Afghanistan and learn to fly at an aviation school in Florida, Bird forces a disturbing intimacy with men destined to become mass murderers. To humanise the terrorists, The Hamburg Cell deliberately focuses on Jarrah, the weakest link of the group, whose reservations about the jihadist cause are eventually swept away. Rather than styling him as some victim of brainwashing, screenwriters Ronan Bennett and Alice Pearman delicately suggest the powerful lure of infatuation with a self-justifying cause while never losing sight of the fact that, for the hijackers, the jihad is not a first strike on America, but a counter strike in an anti-Muslim war that is being waged throughout Bosnia, Chechnya, Indonesia, Iraq and Palestine. Claustrophobically shot and making good use of CCTV and superimposed titles to give the sense of the covert nature of the cell's activities, Bird's film refuses to release us from our intimate experience of the jihadists' world. It's a strictly non-partisan film that adamantly refuses to moralise. That will undoubtedly cause significant controversy among those who would rather condemn these men as pure evil. Rather, what this intelligent drama asks us to do is recognise their motivation - not to judge them, but to address the injustices (in particular the Palestinian crisis) that drives such heinous and misguided actions. Verdict Bravely understated, The Hamburg Cell makes a bold attempt to humanise the terrorists behind the events of 9/11. Its studied detachment on such an emotive issue is impressive.