When criminals wear masks, it lends them a stylized, otherworldly quality. Since we can’t see their faces, we tend to think of their identity as more abstract. The movies have always understood this, and so have the leaders of terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan or Al Qaeda, who project a hooded-horror iconography — let’s call it a dark kind of showbiz — to express the fearsome power of their ideologies. After 9/11, the black facial scarves worn by members of Al Qaeda in the group’s widely seen videos served the purpose of concealing who they were, but they were also a way of creating a warning to the West. The warning said: We’re not just your enemy — we’re a supervillain.
Or maybe, in their own eyes, a superhero.
The startling documentary “Path of Blood” is comprised almost entirely of home-movie video footage of Islamic jihadists in Saudi Arabia,...
Or maybe, in their own eyes, a superhero.
The startling documentary “Path of Blood” is comprised almost entirely of home-movie video footage of Islamic jihadists in Saudi Arabia,...
- 7/20/2018
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Path of Blood Film Trailer – Coming Soon from Path of Blood on Vimeo. Fearlessly embarking on a daring mission, in an effort to spark and maintain a revolution in their country to battle, and ultimately defeat, their enemy, has long driven conflict between opposing societies. That’s certainly been the case between the Western world […]
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- 7/17/2018
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
Review by Peter BelsitoA documentary created using footage from al-Qaeda is a macabre snapshot of religious fanaticism shows an uncomfortable humanity behind inhumane acts.
Assembled from footage shot by al-Qaeda cells and local security services in Saudi Arabia from 2003 to 2009, Jonathan Hacker’s documentary has been criticised for humanizing terrorists. It does, but that in no way lessens their monstrousness. If anything it intensifies it.
The affability and ineptitude of the training camps is shocking. One minute the terrorists are doing boy like wheelbarrow races in the desert and larking about as they paint camouflage markings on a truck (“It looks more like a cow!”). The next they are bombing civilians and, in a sequence that is thankfully reduced to audio, murdering an American hostage.
The lasting impression is not of radicalised robots, but of stupid, naive young men who are coerced all too easily into evil. The need to...
Assembled from footage shot by al-Qaeda cells and local security services in Saudi Arabia from 2003 to 2009, Jonathan Hacker’s documentary has been criticised for humanizing terrorists. It does, but that in no way lessens their monstrousness. If anything it intensifies it.
The affability and ineptitude of the training camps is shocking. One minute the terrorists are doing boy like wheelbarrow races in the desert and larking about as they paint camouflage markings on a truck (“It looks more like a cow!”). The next they are bombing civilians and, in a sequence that is thankfully reduced to audio, murdering an American hostage.
The lasting impression is not of radicalised robots, but of stupid, naive young men who are coerced all too easily into evil. The need to...
- 7/17/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This chilling documentary chronicles the struggles between Saudi Arabian security forces and terrorist cells of smiling young men with Kalashnikovs
Writer-director Jonathan Hacker’s documentary offers a chilling historical document, chronicling a closed but not entirely concluded chapter in the sprawling history of 21st-century terrorism. Drawing on the skills of several editors, Hacker and co weave together footage shot by both the Saudi Arabian security forces and several interrelated Al-Qaida cells who in the early 2000s pursued a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations in and around Riyadh.
At times, an explanatory voiceover narration from that omnipresent British baritone of authority, Samuel West, (supplemented by interjections spoken by Tom Hollander representing the “voice of Jihad”) provides terse explanations. But otherwise there’s little to no editorialising to guide viewers’ reactions, unless you’re counting the ordering of the material or Chad Hobson’s delicate, haunting musical score.
Writer-director Jonathan Hacker’s documentary offers a chilling historical document, chronicling a closed but not entirely concluded chapter in the sprawling history of 21st-century terrorism. Drawing on the skills of several editors, Hacker and co weave together footage shot by both the Saudi Arabian security forces and several interrelated Al-Qaida cells who in the early 2000s pursued a campaign of suicide bombings and assassinations in and around Riyadh.
At times, an explanatory voiceover narration from that omnipresent British baritone of authority, Samuel West, (supplemented by interjections spoken by Tom Hollander representing the “voice of Jihad”) provides terse explanations. But otherwise there’s little to no editorialising to guide viewers’ reactions, unless you’re counting the ordering of the material or Chad Hobson’s delicate, haunting musical score.
- 7/11/2018
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Path Of Blood Paladin Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Jonathan Hacker Screenwriter: Jonathan Hacker adapted from the book by Hacker and Thomas Small Cast: Samuel West, narrator. Tom Hollander as voices of the Jihad. Various members of Al-Qaeda plus government and security forces in Riyadh and environs Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/16/18 Opens: July […]
The post Path of Blood Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Path of Blood Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/8/2018
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Attorneys for Netflix and Fox traded arguments on Tuesday in a high-stakes case involving the alleged poaching of two Fox employees.
The case revolves around the key question of whether 20th Century Fox, or any studio, can hold its employees to fixed-term contracts. Two Fox employees, Marcos Waltenberg and Tara Flynn, left for jobs with the streaming giant in 2016. It is not uncommon for employees to leave before their contracts are up, but Fox chose to sue Netflix to combat what it saw as poaching. Netflix has countered that Fox’s contracts illegally bind employees to the company in a practice akin to slavery.
The potential consequences of the case are far-reaching, and so the case has been aggressively litigated on both sides. Netflix filed a countersuit, seeking to have Fox’s agreements deemed unenforceable. Fox then filed a motion to strike the countersuit under California’s anti-slapp statute, which protects public debate,...
The case revolves around the key question of whether 20th Century Fox, or any studio, can hold its employees to fixed-term contracts. Two Fox employees, Marcos Waltenberg and Tara Flynn, left for jobs with the streaming giant in 2016. It is not uncommon for employees to leave before their contracts are up, but Fox chose to sue Netflix to combat what it saw as poaching. Netflix has countered that Fox’s contracts illegally bind employees to the company in a practice akin to slavery.
The potential consequences of the case are far-reaching, and so the case has been aggressively litigated on both sides. Netflix filed a countersuit, seeking to have Fox’s agreements deemed unenforceable. Fox then filed a motion to strike the countersuit under California’s anti-slapp statute, which protects public debate,...
- 4/11/2018
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Paladin has secured the U.S. distribution rights to Path of Blood, a documentary on jihadi terrorism from director Jonathan Hacker based on his 2014 nonfiction book. Exec produced by Oscar winner Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) and Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the pic is put together from jihadi home-movie footage that was captured by Saudi security services. It’s the story of Muslim terrorists targeting Muslim civilians and brought to justice by Muslim security…...
- 2/26/2018
- Deadline
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