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War Within (The)
R1 - America - Magnolia Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (15th March 2006). |
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The Film
 It’s very hard, especially after having watched this film not to include any political diatribe in my review. It’s hard because there’s so much that I want to open for discussion but at the same time I don’t want to come off sounding like some sort of political lunatic. Besides I think that at this particular time we’ve heard just about all the arguments and debates, read the stories regarding terrorism in today’s climate and the influence of Al Qaeda, the U.S. war on Iraq and the continued and unfortunate instability of the Middle East, right? If you missed all that in recent years, you might want to remove your head from the sand and take a look around. So without getting into something that would stretch many pages let’s try and keep this one simple. The War Within is another in a series of relatively lower budget digital features produced in conjunction with HDNET Films, these films all shot on High-Definition digital video, some previous efforts include the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) as well as the recent Steven Soderbergh film Bubble (2005) among others. The War Within tells the story of a Pakistani Engineering student, Hassan (Ayad Akhtar). While in Paris, is kidnapped by government officials and deported, imprisoned and brutally interrogated in Karachi for is suspected terrorist activities. Formally only an intellectual supporter of jihad, Hassan eventually undergoes a radical transformation and embarks upon a terrorist mission, covertly entering the United States to join a cell based in New York City. After meticulous planning for an event of maximum devastation, all members of the cell are arrested, except for Hassan and one other, Khalid (Charles Daniel Sandoval). With nowhere else to turn, Hassan must rely on the hospitality of his friend Sayeed (Firdous Bamji), who is living the American dream with his family in New Jersey. Unknown to his friends Hassan must decide whether or not to carry out his deadly mission. From the beginning you realise this film has a very different feel to it, the filmmakers introduce the story rather quickly, and then once you realise what Hassan is going to do the film slows it’s pace and bides its time. This creates an uneasy tension, and most unsettling of all you never really know when he’s going to do what he has planned, I can only guess that this sense of dread I got from watching the film is about as close to what many New Yorkers must have felt like directly after 9/11, the fear of any more attacks became a tragic and very real worry. The filmmakers have managed to capture that essence extremely well. I was also sceptical as to how they planned on portraying this character I a sympathetic light. Hassan is ultimately a murderer, this was quite a stretch but I’ll give the filmmakers a point for trying by showing us the torture he endured in jail in Karachi. This would, in effect justify his state of mind; never did they show his progression into fanaticism. The character of Hassan is deeply torn between his friendships and the mission he must accomplish. This drama is quite interesting to watch, his interactions and relationships are formed on a basis of lies, and you begin to think about what he must be thinking at those very moments when interacting with people that he may in fact kill. Furthermore the performances were no less than extraordinary, Ayad Akhtar who plays Hassan and is also the co-writer demonstrates an acting maturity very rarely seen in performers of his age and experience and is the guiding light of this film. With one look into his eyes and you can see the torment that his character must be going through, this is captured with a subdued presence. I found that the photography really let this film down, shooting in High-definition video is a bold move, there’s still a prejudice against digital when it comes to feature films. They don’t get the same wide-distribution as traditionally shot 35mm films; the technology is also still progressing. A film that is as ‘moody’ as this one really could have benefited with some depth of field and lighting that helps evoke that. This film looked too ‘digital’ and the flat image really didn’t do anything for me. Although the film’s runtime was a manageable 93 minutes, I felt that at times the film dragged to a halt, some scenes went on longer than they had a right to. Once you make a point please move on, there’s really no need to hover over it for another few minutes. A keen editor’s eye could have removed and trimmed those parts and left the overall tension that amounts still intact. Overall I thought this was a fairly decent effort for both director Joseph Castelo and co-writer Ayad Akhtar but falls a little short from being a truly great film. The DVD had a sticker on the outside with a quote that read The Most Controversial Film Ever well it certainly hits a few buttons but I don’t recall hearing about this film when it was released so maybe I missed that media parade?
Video
Presented in the film’s original theatrical ratio of 1.78:1, this anamorphic transfer wasn’t my favourite. Although the image was sharp, I wasn’t too pleased with the overall look, the digital video provides a clean sharp edge that unfortunately looses any character that film stock has. I was pleased that there was no edge-enhancement or any print flaws; I supposed one good thing about this format is that you can create a transfer straight from the digital source. Colors create a nice contrast here, while skin tones suffer at times appearing too orange at times and occasionally washing out.
Audio
Only one audio track is included an English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track, this film is predominantly spoken in English however at times there are other languages spoken on-screen. Dialogue is occasionally clear, I found a few scenes a little hard to decipher only because some characters spoke with heavy accents. The film includes a balanced mix with some directional effects, however minimal. A great sense of Depth is not always reach, but the film’s score adds a layer that improves on this the lack of surround depth. There only optional subtitles on this release are Spanish, however burned-in English subtitles appear when any foreign language is spoken.
Extras
First up we have a feature-length audio commentary with writer/director Joseph Castelo and co-writer/actor Ayad Akhtar. The participants provide a generous amount of information regarding the production and include topic such as the film’s locations. The production filmed in New York City so all the scenes that take place in Paris and the jail in Karachi were all cheated. They discuss various story elements and the development of the screenplay. They researched terror cells and Al Qaeda practice for the film and occasionally made up stuff needed to fill requirements of the story. They also talk about the character relationships and motivations among other things. The tone of the track is rather sombre, the pace is not dictated entirely but what’s onscreen but they try to remain screen-specific at times. Overall it’s an informative track but there’s nothing in here particularly amazing that you just have to listen to right away. A collection of 8 deleted scenes follows the commentary, you can view these scenes individually or with a Play All function. The scenes included are: - Alternate Opening which runs for 7 minutes 48 seconds, in this scene Hassan prepares himself for this mission in the motel room and then cuts back to the travel inside the shipping container, followed by his retrieval to the docks and his meeting with the real estate agent that directs him to the terror cell. - Alternate School runs for 2 minutes 53 seconds, in this scene we see Sayeed introducing Hassan to some friends, plus Hassan overhears Duri (Nandana Sen) talking with her boyfriend. - Hassan Hears Duri runs for 1 minute 14 seconds and sees Hassan overhears Duri crying about how things would be different if they had stayed in Pakistan. - Towncar – Hassan and Khaled runs for 1 minute 18 seconds, here the two discuss continuing after the other members of their cell have been arrested. - Hassan Awoken from a Dream by Ali runs for 1 minute 10 seconds, Hassan dreams of being back in the jail in Karachi when Ali (Varun Sriram) suddenly wakes him up. - The Passengers runs for 1 minute 18 seconds, here some obnoxious cab passengers complain about cab drivers. - Gabe Bails Hassan Out runs for 2 minutes 1 second. Here Hassan is taken in custody after he’s caught driving someone else’s car and with a Canadian driver’s license, Gabe (John Ventimiglia) comes in to bail him out. - Alternate Motel runs for 1 minute 55 seconds, this is another version of the scene where Hassan walks in on a drunken Khalid in the motel room the night before their mission. I’m pleased that the filmmaker’s included these scenes, it provides a look at what the film was like at one stage, especially with the alternate versions of scenes, however why a commentary wasn’t recorded for these scenes is a mystery, you have these guys in for the film, why not sit them down for a few more minutes to talk about these scenes? The film’s original theatrical trailer is also included and runs for 2 minutes 7 seconds, a collection of bonus trailers are also included, they are: - The World’s Fastest Indian which runs for 2 minutes 9 seconds. - One Last Thing… which runs for 2 minutes 15 seconds. - HDNet spot that runs for 31 seconds. - Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room that runs for 1 minute 50 seconds. - Bubble that runs for 1 minute 25 seconds. - A League of Ordinary Gentlemen that runs for 1 minute 54 seconds. The first three bonus trailers listed are start-up previews and play before the menu, these can be skipped by pressing the Menu button on your remote.
Overall
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