Review of The Hamburg Cell

Dramatisation by renowned filmmaker Antonia Bird of the characters and events involved in the 9/11 attacks. The approach is very laid back, is statedly on the basis of three years research and 'known facts and events.' so is something of a chronicle. It avoids demising the hijackers (so such a film could probably never have been made in America) and Bird points out that not only were they real people, intelligent people, who devoutly believed what they were doing was the right thing, but that it is important for us to understand that and the how and the why. We see the main character as a highly intelligent man, seeking to become a better person by becoming a better Muslim, and thence drawn into the training group. Other factors like the American influence in Palestine (central in most Middle-East Muslims' minds) are mentioned briefly, but the story develops in a natural way - a young man joining those prepared to fight for Islam and 'do something worthwhile'. He switches studies to go to flight school and has perfect skills at 'blending' with westerners. The film is unsensational, but without proselytising for either 'side' manages to at least shed some light on the hijackers motives and mentality.