The Siege/Belägringen

On dodgy ground

In response to the bombing of a U.S. army base in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. army abduct an Islamic cleric, Ahmed Bin Talal, who is believed to be responsible for the attack. Some time later, a bus is hijacked in New York and, as the bomb squad move in, a device goes off, spraying blue paint everywhere. A message is sent to the FBI warning that they have received their last warning. The team assigned to the case is led by Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington) and they are puzzled by the fact that they have received no demands. The team comes under pressure as another bus is hijacked - this time the bus explodes, killing the hijackers and the passengers. During this time, Hubbard encounters Elise Kraft (Annette Benning) from another government agency who is snooping around on her own behalf. As more terrorist attacks occur, Hubbards team realise that they are dealing with an extremist group from the Middle East, and that they have very few contacts within the Arab community in Brooklyn to help them find the terrorists. After some manoeuvring, Kraft decides to help the FBI team, but her motives are suspicious. As the death toll mounts, prejudice against Arabs rises and, after hundreds are killed in one explosion, the President declares martial law in Brooklyn and sends in the army, under the command of General William Devereaux (Bruce Willis), who was responsible for the capture of Bin Talal.

This is not the first movie to feature terrorists planting bombs in New York and staying one step ahead of the law. It's not even the first one to feature Bruce Willis. Director Edward Zwick, who has worked with Denzel Washington on Glory and Courage under Fire, begins this thriller at a brisk pace, building up the tension even if the story covers well-trodden ground. However, as the story progresses, the energy of the story dissipates as the movie splits our interest between the chase for the terrorists (which is the more exciting part) or focus on the effects of martial law :- the internment of innocent citizens because of their ethnic background and the effect of the suspension of civil liberties. Since the latter is treated in a very superficial way, the audience has no emotional investment in the welfare of the prisoners. True, Hubbards partner, Frank (Tony Shalhoub) who is Lebanese, has his son interned, but it receives little screentime.

Matters are not helped by the ineptly written roles of the General or Kraft. When the government debates the use of the military, Devereaux is passionately opposed to their use, warning that the consequences will be severe. However, once martial law is declared (with Devereaux in charge), he becomes a virtual dictator, and generally acting like the Spanish Inquisition (and nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!). It doesn't help that Willis delivers every line in exactly the same tone; that of an angry dog owner lecturing his pooch about chewing slippers. However, Bening fares even worse. Her character is meant to represent the labyrinthine double-dealing of the U.S. government, and the shifting alliances amongst America's allies. However, her often-contradictory actions (playing both ends off against the middle) make very little sense after a while, and her constant guilty demeanour can hardly be an asset for a spy. It is also exceedingly unlikely that a white American woman would be so heavily involved with a bunch of supposedly fanatically devoted Muslim terrorist groups, without arousing even a little suspicion.

There has been some controversy over The Siege over its portrayal of Arabs and Islam. Since the US-backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, a myriad of real-life terrorist groups from the Middle East (encompassing Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Libya amongst others) have hit the headlines with attacks on US or Western targets. Since Hollywood has never been too concerned with sophisticated political analysis, these acts of terrorism, as well as the continuing unrest along the various Israeli borders, have been convenient and plentiful material for movie villains. Delta Force began the trend, and expended very little time portraying (any) Arabs in a positive light. But at least that was an action movie about a particular terrorist incident, based loosely on a real-life event. When mainstream, 'family' movies such as Back to the Future and True Lies use Arab terrorists as the bad guys, the labelling is more insidious, since it is presented as an accepted fact. Of course, real-life events, and the press coverage thereof, such as the World Trade Center bombing, have also contributed to this picture. The real problem, and not addressed particularly well in this movie either, is the muddled image that people have of what constitutes Arab culture, Islam and even what countries are even contained in the 'Middle East'. This movie is not anti-Arab in intent, but I doubt if this movie would have been made if the minority in question were blacks or Jews. Similarly, caveats, such as Oklahoma City or the internment of Japanese Americans in World War Two are mentioned in passing and are easy to miss.

Whatever complaints Muslims may have about their portrayal in this movie movie are insignificant compared to the portrayal of the U.S. army. They haven't looked this stupid in a movie since Godzilla - in one scene, they interrupt an FBI arrest by launching a helicopter attack on the suspects - hardly a good way of collecting prisoners for interrogation !

What gives this movie any momentum is yet another fine performance by Denzel Washington, surely one of America's finest actors. His scenes with Bening and Shalhoub sparkle and the movie is poorer for the decision to spend the second half in one chase sequence after another rather than on intelligent dialogue between the main characters, or following through on the issues raised in the promising early scenes.

Directed by Edward Zwick.

© 1999 Stockholm Film Review. All Rights Reserved.