The Siege

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Siege

The movie poster for The Siege.
Directed by Edward Zwick
Produced by Lynda Obst
Edward Zwick
Written by Lawrence Wright
Menno Meyjes
Edward Zwick
Starring Denzel Washington
Annette Bening
Bruce Willis
Tony Shalhoub
David Proval
Sami Bouajila
Music by Graeme Revell
Cinematography Roger Deakins
Editing by Steven Rosenblum
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) November 6, 1998
Running time 116 min.
Language English
Budget $70 million
IMDb profile
For other uses, see The Siege (disambiguation).

The Siege is a 1998 film about a fictional situation where terrorist cells have made several attacks on New York City. It was directed by Edward Zwick and stars Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Annette Bening, and Tony Shalhoub.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

FBI Special Agent Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) and his Arab partner Frank Haddad (Tony Shalhoub), arrive at the scene of a terrorist crisis in New York City, where hostages are being held aboard a bus containing a bomb. The bomb turns out to be false, but the FBI receives a phone call stating that there will be real bombs unless the religious leader Sheik Ahmed Bin Talal, kidnapped in the Middle East by the US government, is freed.

The first real bomb is also aboard a bus. Hubbard gets the terrorists to release all the children on the bus, but despite further attempts to negotiate, the bomb explodes, killing everyone still aboard. A CIA agent, Elise Kraft, involved with her own agency's investigation of the bombing, shows up but will not give Hubbard any details. However, she introduces him to Samir, an Arab CIA informant. Kraft and Samir are lovers, and had worked together during the Gulf War where Kraft organized a group of men to rise against the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, until funding was cut. Samir admits to knowing one of the suicide bombers after Hubbard shows proof of contact. However, Kraft insists that Samir is not a terrorist, and that his continued freedom is vital to the investigation. Samir, fearing retribution, refuses to talk.

Nonetheless, the FBI locates the first cell and takes them out in a shootout, unaware of a second sleeper cell which then becomes activated and bombs a theater. A third cell bombs the offices of the FBI Counterterrorism Division at One Federal Plaza.

The Federal Government seeks options. Major General William Devereaux (Willis) insists that the Army is not the right "tool" for this job, being a "broadsword not a scalpel." Hubbard recommends continued use of the FBI to seek out and neutralize the suspects. Nonetheless, the President declares martial law, and the Army, under Major General Devereaux, occupies and seals off Brooklyn in an effort to find the remaining terrorist cells. Subsequently, all young males of Arab descent, including Haddad's son, are rounded up and detained in a makeshift prison camp in a stadium. Haddad quits the FBI. New Yorkers stage violent demonstrations against the army and the singling out of the Arabs, and the Army fights to maintain control. There are reports of Army killings.

Hubbard and Kraft, whose true name is revealed to be Sharon Bridger, continuing their investigation, capture a suspect, Tariq Husseini, but Devereaux takes custody of him and tortures and kills him in an interrogation, against the objections of Hubbard. After this Bridger tells Hubbard that Husseini knew nothing and, sickened, finally tells Hubbard what she knows. She and Hubbard compel Samir to arrange a meeting with the final terrorist cell. Hubbard convinces Haddad he needs his help and his return to the FBI.

A peaceful march including all ethnic groups in New York demonstrating against the occupation of Brooklyn is getting under way. When Bridger and Samir arrive at the meeting place, Samir reveals that he himself is the final cell. He straps a bomb to his body which he intends to detonate amongst the marchers. Hubbard and Haddad arrive in time, but Samir fatally shoots Bridger as she struggles to stop him, and Hubbard kills Samir.

Hubbard, accompanied by other FBI agents, places Devereaux under arrest for the torture and murder of Tariq Husseini. Devereaux declares himself to be the law, and commands his soldiers to aim their guns at the FBI agents resulting in a Mexican standoff. Hubbard reminds Devereaux that the civil liberties and human rights which he took from Husseini are what all his predecessors have fought and died for. Devereaux finally submits to arrest. Martial law ends, and the detainees are freed, including Haddad's son.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Analysis

 This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

The most controversial event depicted in the film is probably the mass internment of all young Arab men living in Brooklyn. This part of the story was presumably inspired by the mass internment of Japanese people living on the West Coast of the USA during WW II.

Although released nearly three years before the September 11th attacks, many elements of the film can be seen as prescient, such as the depiction of attacks on New York City by Islamist terrorists, including attacks on US government buildings.

"Blowback" is a key theme of the film. "Blowback" is a CIA term used to describe the unintended consequences of their covert operations abroad.[1] In the film, U.S. foreign policy in Iraq plays a clear role in the terrorists' motives. The CIA supported Sheik Ahmed bin Talal and his followers' efforts to overthrow Saddam Hussein. To this end, the CIA taught his followers tradecraft, subversion and how to make bombs. Following a "policy shift", America stopped helping them, and Hussein slaughtered many of Talal's followers. Some of them, however, escaped to the United States and turned their frustration and resentment against the United States government.

Other ways in which The Siege presages 9/11 is the way that a major terrorist attack results in loss of civil liberties, discrimination against Arab-Americans and the lack of cooperation between American government agencies, in particular the FBI and CIA.[2]

Interestingly, the script for The Siege was written by Lawrence Wright, who later, several years after 9/11, wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Looming Tower about Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attack. This book highlights how the failure of the FBI and CIA to cooperate prevented them from uncovering the 9/11 terrorists and their plot until it was too late.

[edit] Controversy

When the film opened, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee came out against the film. Its spokesman Hussein Ibish said “The Siege is extremely offensive. It's beyond offensive. We're used to offensive, that's become a daily thing. This is actually dangerous." He thought it was “Insidious and incendiary” because it “reinforces stereotypes that lead to hate crimes.” Ibish acknowledged that Arab terrorists did, in fact, bomb the World Trade Center in 1993, but said that Arab and Islamic groups are upset by "the very strong equation between Muslim religious practices and terrorism. ...[Thanks to this film] Every time someone goes through the Muslim ablution, the ritual washing of hands everybody does before they pray five times a day, that image is the announcement to the viewer of the presence of violence.” Echoing such criticism the Council on American-Islamic Relations protested that "In this film, the Muslims have total disregard for human life." The groups were “faxing and calling news organizations on a regular basis” to voice their concerns.[3]

Director Edward Zwick had met with Arab Americans, “who suggested that the story be changed to mirror the situation after the Oklahoma City bombing, when Arabs were immediately assumed responsible. That idea was rejected”. Zwick noted that The Siege's villains also include members of the U.S. government, and dismissed the criticism “Anytime you talk about issues that touch on religion of any kind, you can anticipate this kind of reaction. Should we only present every group as paragons and monoliths of virtue? The movie inspires to engender this kind of dialogue. I happen to come from the school that thinks that movies should not only make you comfortable, they might make you think. …You can anticipate any kind of reaction in these times in which sensitivity seems very high in the culture. I have a friend who says, if you've not offended somebody, you're a nobody. …How does it feel to be a lightning rod? It gets the blood going. I think it's better than being universally ignored. In a culture where there seems to be so much to talk about, it's good to be talked about."[3]

In a Sept. 2007 interview[4], screenwriter Lawrence Wright is quoted as saying:

"It (The Siege) was a box office failure, but it was the most rented movie in America after 9/11." He gave as an explanation of its box office failure that "Muslim and Arab protestors picketed the theaters. They were furious at being stereotyped as terrorists."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ MSNBC article on Bin Laden and blowback [1]
  2. ^ CIA failure to inform FBI and Immigration Services about Nawaf Alhamzi and Khalid Almihdhar San Diego North County Times
  3. ^ a b Muslims feel under siege from Hollywood (November 5, 1998).
  4. ^ Reporting The Bin Laden Beat CBS News, Sept. 10, 2007

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Edward Zwick

About Last Night... (1986) • Glory (1989) • Legends of the Fall (1994) • Courage Under Fire (1996) • The Siege (1998) • The Last Samurai (2004) • Blood Diamond (2006) • Defiance (2008)