7/09/06

Film Review: “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq” by Irfan Rydhan

Just watched the Turkish film “Valley of the Wolves: Iraq” and two words come to mind: “About Time”!

About Time that a film like this, a fictional action drama based on current events is made from the Muslim perspective, which is both entertaining and enlightening.

About Time that Muslims around the world are starting to realize the true potential and strength of using the medium of Film to get their views and opinions heard by the masses.

About Time that Muslims have created something, which is not only educational to Non-Muslims, but also to the Muslim people themselves!

The “Valley of the Wolves” (VOTW) is the Muslim answer to all the past 25+ years of Hollywood “Kill all ‘dem Damn Arab and Terrorists” flicks we have all grown up with. From “Delta Force” and “Iron Eagle” (which was produced with the help of Israel), to the more recent “True Lies”, “Executive Decision” and “Rules of Engagement” (which was created with the full support of the U.S. Military).

VOTW (Valley of the Wolves) turns the tables. The American military is the “bad guy” and the Muslims (a combination of Turks, Kurds and Arabs) are fighting for justice and truth.

Naturally, the U.S. and western countries slapped the “Anti-American” label on the film, which basically means they are too afraid to even discuss the real issues which the film brings up (in a fictitious manner), such as how the U.S. military’s lack of cultural and religious education leads them to attack, capture, torture and kill many innocent people in Iraq and other countries which they and their allies have occupied and/or invaded.

There is a scene where so-called “insurgents” are rounded up and transported across the desert in a large trailer without any ventilation. One of the U.S. military personnel complains to his commanding officer that “they will suffocate” if they don’t give them some air. So the commanding officer agrees and stops the truck. Instead of opening the door to allow some air to come into the trailer, he begins shooting at it and kills many of the men inside. This dramatization was based on an actual incident in which U.S. military people allowed Taliban prisoners to suffocate in a similar fashion during transport in Afghanistan.

The remaining prisoners are then taken to an “Abu Gharib” type prison in which they are stripped naked and hosed down with water and others are forced into humiliating positions just for the amusement of their U.S. captors. Again, this was based on actual and true incidents in Iraq and other U.S. military prisons.

Some of the films critics have complained the film is too one-sided and just plain “Anti-American”, to which I simply must laugh. “Valley of the Wolves” is not claiming to be a true or factual film. It is simply an action drama, which has a different perspective on things. How many times has Hollywood spit out garbage such as “True Lies” (the name says it all), which is not based on anything except pure American military fantasy, and yet when anyone complains about stereotypes and negative images of Muslims in these type of films it is not taken seriously and the excuse of “Free speech” and “art” are given.

So now we can say the same thing. It’s art and free speech and we can make fictional action dramas too…except now YOU (the Americans) are the bad guys and WE (Muslims) are the good guys! What are you gonna do? Ban the film? What happened to your free speech and the first amendment? Does that only apply to U.S. or Western films?

Personally I don’t think the film is one-sided at all. The Muslim characters are shown to be diverse in their thoughts, speech and actions. Some of the Muslim characters want to get revenge on the U.S. soldiers who committed certain atrocities against their close family and friends, by blowing themselves up and becoming “suicide bombers” (one character does in fact go through with it), but another is stopped by her guardian, a kind sheikh, played by Ghassan Massoud (who also played Saladin in “Kingdom of Heaven”), who teaches people to have patience, pray and have faith in Allah to get through their problems. Massoud’s character also chastises these insurgents who are about the be-head a captured western Journalist and saves the man’s life after scolding his captors and telling them that they are only giving Muslims a bad name and going against the ways of Islam (which is true).

Of course the film wasn’t perfect. I’m not convinced that only a handful of Turkish intelligence officers armed with only hand guns and an assault rifle, would be able to take on and defeat about 10 heavily armed U.S. military personnel and mercenaries in the film’s final scene. But then again this is a fictional action drama, right? So if Arnie and Chuck and Sly can take on whole countries armies single-handedly, then maybe it’s not as far fetched as I first thought.

In conclusion, I was very impressed with the Valley of the Wolves and recommend it to everyone who likes action and suspense films, as I do. You will not be disappointed. As a Muslim viewer, I was also pleasantly surprised that Muslims are now realizing the full potential of this art form, and are going beyond the documentary film. These types of films (dramas) are much more powerful and will have a greater impact on waking up the masses (both Muslim and Non), to see a different side of the story and allow the Muslim perspective and opinion and voice to be heard by the public. If your film is getting banned (which some European countries tried to do to VOTW), then you know you are doing something right! InshAllah we will see a lot more films like VOTW coming from the Muslim world, and maybe, just maybe, they will make viewers think that their might be two sides of a story after all, and the truth is somewhere in between. About Time!

Irfan Rydhan
Jam-Productions.Com
Irfan.rydhan@gmail.com