A Film Review: Rendition (2007)

'Rendition' (2007)

Director: Gavin Hood

Cast: Reese Witherspoon as Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi, Jake Gyllenhaal as Douglas Freeman, Meryl Streep as Corrine Whitman, Omar Metwally as Anwar El-Ibrahimi, Alan Arkin as Senator Hawkins, Peter Sarsgaard as Alan Smith, Zineb Oukach as Fatima Fawal, Yigal Naor as Abasi Fawal, Moa Khouas as Khalid El-Emin.

Synopsis: having arrived to the airport from South Africa, a chemical engineer (Omar Metwally) was kidnapped; he didn’t know who, why had done that, and where they conveyed him. That was for a record, as before engineer’s arriving there was a suicide bombing in North Africa. Besides, everyone who was relevant to that operation had his own rendition.

Review: Here we can see two parallel pictures. A suicide bombing killed 19 people in North Africa. Having arrived to the US airport from South Africa, Answar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) was detained by American officials and sent to a confidential place for obtaining information, which CIA agent Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) had to enter in the minutes. He was linked with the terrorist group, which meant that he was involved in the terrorist attack. Police official Abasi Fawal (Yigal Naor) resorted a standard procedure: interrogation - torture - electric chair, thinking that the application of techniques amounting to torture was the most effective method. Meanwhile, Answar’s wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), trying to rescue her husband, traveled to Washington for meeting with an old friend Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard), who worked as an aide to Senator Hawkins (Alan Arkin). But Alan could do nothing for the woman, that’s why she met with Corrine Whitman, the high-ranking official from CIA (Meryl Streep), who affirmed that she had no idea what Isabella was talking about. But not only Isabella was trying to rescue the engineer: Douglas Freeman, convinced that the application of techniques amounting to torture wasn’t the best method for obtaining information, doubted Anwar’s involvement in a terrorist attack. He thought the man, having the wife and a little son, was not capable of murder. That’s Douglas released El-Ibrahimi without the authorities’ consent.

  Fatima Fawal (Zineb oukach) had run away from home with her boyfriend Khalid El-Emin (Moa Khouas), but she didn’t know that he was going to take revenge on her father Abasi Fawal for his brother’s death. Having known Khalid’s aim, Fatima tried to stop him and defend her father. But it was too late, as a suicide terrorist had exploded the bomb, having killed the girl also.

  This film makes us think about our society where people don’t trust each other, and it shows our reality, as everything reflected by Gavin Hood is quite possible in our life. We can’t blame or condemn anybody, as for some (Corrine Whitman and Abasi Fawal) tortures are just a work, while for others (Douglas Freeman) are something unimaginable. That’s why all the characters have different renditions for the same occasion.

  The actors’ performance was excellent; it makes us understand their psychology. I’ve watched many films with Jake Gyllenhaal, but it was something new. His voice, motions and especially his eyes transferred all emotions of his character. His colleague dies before his eyes, he is to be present on tortures of the suspected; everything is difficult for him, and he has to look into the business.

  To sum it up, I’d like to say that Gavin Hood shot the film very realistic, and actors played the characters very believable, that was keeping me in suspense the whole two hours.