Faye Dunaway once told me that to play a role she had to commit to the character with all her heart and soul. She needed, she explained, to love the character.
In terms of performance this means the actor has to empathize and identify with the fictional character. The danger lies in a character who is evil. If a skillful actor identifies and loves a character, as Faye, a brilliant actress, did with the homicidal Bonnie Parker in Bonnie & Clyde (1967), or the amoral Diana Christensen in Network (1976), then the audience will also love the character.
Because movies are a moral landscape, sympathetic villains can be something of an ethical problem.
We allow for a certain amount of romanticism in the movies. Afterall, that’s why we go to the movies. But what happens when the subject of the film is contemporary terrorism—evil which should be beyond gauzy romanticism?
Seraphic Secret surveys three powerful and effective movies whose subject is terrorism and true-life terrorists.
Though each film is quite different, they all share a basic dramatic approach that short-circuits the problem of glorifying vicious and nihilistic terrorists. The classic three act dramatic structure is hard to discern in these films. Instead, the narratives seem to meander aimlessly—in fact, each movie is tightly structured—as they follow, with almost documentary precision, the multiple story-lines that are the stuff of these real life stories. The reliable and audience pleasing set-up and pay-off that is the DNA of classic Hollywood movies is entirely absent. In addition, all three films are foreign productions with subtitles. Extra long, each movie—one is a five hour mini-series—demands a substantial time commitment and unusual mental concentration. Each film has numerous characters that come and go and cover timelines that stretch over many years. Most important, each film tries to stick with the true story facts as closely as dramatic structure allows.
All three films, though dealing with different terrorist movements, also reveal that international terrorists share several basic personal and ideological traits.
1. Each terrorist group was composed of comfortable, well-educated middle-class kids who imbibed Marxist-Lenninist ideology—verbal flatulence subordinates reality—and then morphed into narcissistic, utopian killers.
2. Riven by internal quarrels, the terrorists betrayed, tortured and murdered one another in kabuki-like ritual.
3. The terrorist cells used anti-Zionism as a mask for Jew-hatred.
4. Each group forged close ties with Palestinian terrorists.
5. Sexual pathologies infected both male and female members of these terrorist gangs.
6. Zero laughs. I challenge you to find a more joyless, dour, wretched group of people on the face of the earth. Not even irony exists in their sterilized consciousness. It’s all kvetch, kvetch, kvetch with these people. The only time I cracked a smile was when Carlos the Jackal had liposuction because a terrorist with love handles is, I suppose, totally uncool.
7. The women terrorists were—and are—far crazier and blood-thirsty than the men. Hence an Israeli sniper once told me of an IDF doctrine called: “Shoot the female terrorist first.”
United Red Army, 2007. Britain’s finest general of the second world war, Field Marshal William Joseph Slim, once characterized imperial Japan as the “greatest army of insects the world has ever known.” He was referring to a unique Japanese social cohesion and conformity that bred a culture of subservience. The student movements of the late 1960’s spawned a Stalinist style Japanese terrorist faction, The Red Army, that was, in its own way, an insect army of terrorists. The title of this film is ironic because the Japanese Red Army was only united in their murderous impulse to torture and murder—mostly one another. Retreating to their mountain hideouts, twelve members of the Red Army were murdered for infractions such as improperly cleaning a gun, wearing make-up, and kissing. In one ghastly scene, a young woman beats her own face to a bloody pulp in a session labeled “self-critique.” Ultimately, these young Japanese became the parents they so despised who committed unspeakable atrocities during World War II. There are numerous characters and it’s hard to keep track of all the crazies, but this is a powerful though gruesome film and it is impossible to come away feeling anything other than disgust and contempt for these sadistic Communist monsters.
The Baader Meinhof Complex, 2008. The Red Army Faction were German terrorists who also came out of the student movements of the 60’s. Known as the Baader Meinhof Gang, these Marxist-spouting lefties saw themselves as heroic revolutionaries. But the film reveals them as a gang of homicidal losers, sleazy sexual predators and, of course, uber Jew-haters. One female member proves her revolutionary credentials by abandoning her husband and small children. Another woman sets up her parent’s best friends for assassination over afternoon tea. A core group trains with the PLO but get in trouble with the Muslim jihadists when the German women insist on sun bathing in the nude. The Red Army faction terrorized Europe with kidnappings, bank robberies, bombings and murders for several years before the German authorities finally killed and arrested the active members who were simply rebooted Nazis. As with “United Red Army,” the film presents dozens of characters and covers several years. This is an extraordinary look into a very particular German evil.
Carlos, 2010, is a three-part mini-series broadcast in America over the Sundance channel. This is a remarkable five and a half hour study of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as Carlos the Jackal. A notorious international terrorist, Carlos, a Venezuelan, saw himself as the rock star of terrorism. He wore a black beret, Che chic, a bad-boy leather jacket, and fed sympathetic journalists juicy bits of terrorist gossip. Carlos murdered two French policeman and hijacked a 1975 OPEC meeting in Vienna, two actions that put his name and face on the front pages—which he loved. The name Carlos was given to him by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group he joined in 1970. Carlos presented himself as pure idealist who fought for “the people,” but the film makes clear that he was just a mercenary thug who hired himself out to the highest bidder: East Germany, Syria, Sudan, Libya, a laundry list of totalitarian monsters. Not surprisingly, Carlos converted to Islam in order to solidify his relationship with Jew-hating Arabs. And of course, Carlos hit on every over-bred, over-educated Marxist groupie babe who crossed his path demanding submission to his, ahem, “revolutionary discipline.” He also got his jollies by beating up prostitutes. Apparently these unfortunate women did not qualify as members of the beloved proletariat. Currently Carlos is serving a life sentence in France. He claims he was set-up by the Mossad. Where is the guillotine when we need it?
All three films are available on Netflix.
Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a peaceful and meaningful Shabbat.
I watched the B M Complex a few months ago and it doesn’t hold back on what a bunch of turds those people were. I kept thinking this is what the people marching in the streets of D.C. with Jane Fonda and Dr Spock would turn into if they ever got their hands on some weapons.
Fortunately only a few jerks like Bill and Bernardine decided to build some bombs.
Unfortunately the rest are working in the Obama administration.
Johnny:
I watched “Baader-Meinhof Complex” twice in order to really comprehend it. I was happily surprised that the movie was such a complete indictment of these human monsters. Not something you exopect from European filmmakers.
I’ve not seen any of these flicks, but this post reminded me of ‘The Motorcycle Diaries.’
Being a motorcyclist, I dug it. However, I did leave the cinema with ruminative thoughts – Che was a terrible person. Leaving aside his leftie philosophy (I don’t judge anyone on idiocy) he sent thousands to their deaths and killed dozens, if not hundreds, himself.
But he still is some kind of icon. I argued this with a South American chap at a party a few years ago. His point was that Che gave South Americans someone to look up to, some kind of identity. I told him that it was a poor role model – yet they don’t have anyone else. No George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. I suspect that Che’s good looks and long hair had everything to do with his cult.
Some years back, a misguided soul spraypainted ‘Che lives!’ on walls and fences around my local zone. Natch, they were modified in many ways. ‘Cheese and olives’ was good but nothing beat ‘Che lives with Elvis!’
Earl – South Americans have Simon Bolivar, just for starters. Che – Castro – Chavez are more heroes of the left than people in general I think.
BTW you will enjoy the Max Hastings book – a chapter or 2 is devoted to General Slim.
If you are interested the book Flyboys by James Bradley – a follow up to his Flags of our fathers – is interesting.
He gets into the Japanese militarist’s corruption of the Samurai concept of Bushido, in addition to the shocking fate of 6 American prisoners on the Island of Chi Chi Jima (~100 miles or so from Iwo) and the Japanese headquarters for radio transmissions in the Pacific).
If you are a motorcycle fan (well yes I know!) have you seen the World’s Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins – true story and in your neck of the woods.
The character on which Hopkins is based – must have been a character.
Still mulling over Slim’s quote of the WW2 Japanese Army as “The greatest army of insecrts the world has known” –
How true.
Bill:
An honest movie about Che? That’ll be the day.
This is a bit off topic, but I got some fascinating insights about European/Palestinian terror cells when I first read “The Little Drummer Girl” by John le Carré.
I never did bother to see the movie, as they changed the lead character in the film, from a feckless young Englishwoman to an American, played by the very yankee Diane Keaton, and I thought it would ruin it for me.
Strangest thing, I was rooting for the Israelis/Mossad the whole time, and I honestly thought that they were portrayed as the heroes of the book. Much later, I was shocked to learn that John le Carré meant otherwise, and that was not his intention!
Franny:
I read the book when it first came out and I also thought it was pro-Israel. But reading it now as a more mature man and political thinker I see that Le Carre is anti-Israel.
I read The Little Drummer Girl too when it came out. I hated it b/c of the way it portrayed the Israelis as the bad guys and the Palestinian terrorist as the hero.
General Slim wrote an interesting memoir about the campaign in Burma: “Defeat into Victory.”
The same campaign was described from the viewpoint of an ordinary soldier by George MacDonald Fraser (author of the Flashman novels) in his book “Quartered Safe Out Here.”
David:
Gen. Slim and Ulysses S. Grant wrote, to my mind, the best war memoirs by commanding generals ever.
I like the following passage from Gen Slim on ***dealing with defeat***. Here, he reflects on a major defeat he suffered shortly after taking command in Burma:
The only test of generalship is success, and I had succeeded in nothing that I had attempted…Defeat is bitter. Bitter to the common soldier, but trebly bitter to his general. The soldier may comfort himself with the thought that, whatever the result, he has done his duty faithfully and steadfastly, but the commander has failed in his duty if he has not won victory–for that is his duty. He has no other comparable to it. He will go over in his mind the events of the campaign. ‘Here,’ he will think, ‘I went wrong; here I took counsel of my fears when I should have been bold; there I should have waited to gather strength, not struck piecemeal; at such a moment I failed to grasp opportunity when it was presented to me.’ He will remember the soldiers whom he sent into the attack that failed and who did not come back. he will recall the look in the eyes of men who trusted him. ‘I have failed them,’ he will say to himself, ‘and failed my country!’ He will see himself for what he is–a defeated general. In a dark hour he will turn on himself and question the very foundations of his leadership and his manhood.
And then he must stop! For, if he is ever to command in battle again, he must shake off these regrets and stamp on them, as they claw at his will and his self-confidence. He must beat off these atacks he delivers against himself, and cast out the doubts born of failure. Forget them, and remember only the lessons to be learnt from defeat–they are more than from victory.
David I must confess that I had never heard of General Slim until reading Max Hasting’s book on the Pacific War (the title escapes me at the moment and I am under some pressure to complete some code) – but I do remember that he seemed to do miracles with very little (the pacific war seemed to be almost forgotten by the Brits) and as i recall – always subject to rebuttal – he was treated very poorly by the British – fired?
back to coding…
Bill, I think the Hastings book is Retribution.
David:
Wonderful quote from a wonderful soldier. Have to read MacDonald’s memoir. Thanks for the tip.
Robert it was that book (of Grant’s) that saved his family from bankruptcy if I am not mistaken. It is on my shelf and one “I’ve been meaning to read” – guess I should push up the priority a bit.
Grant’s book is really good and slightly better than Sherman’s which is also a must read. I made it through college being told that Sherman’s march was a purely vindictive act against the South. But while Sherman was more than happy to leave a trail of destruction, his first concern was that he had had so much trouble defending his supply line to Atlanta he decided his army was going to march to the sea living off the land. Of course this meant raiding the natives in GA but tough noogies, this was war.
Had the Confederates not been so successful attacking his long supply line history could have been a little different.
Interesting list Robert and as usual I learned something stopping here!
Would Patriot Games deserve an honorable mention?
Always remember when the terrorists are chasing the surgeon-mother in her Porsche on the crowded freeway.
And the old blooded killing of the terrorist-wannabe at the Libya training ground.
Bill:
“Patriot Games” is a fine film, but it is romantic fiction. Take a look at just one of these movies—“Carlos” the most accesible, “United Red Army” the most difficult—and you’ll see what I mean.