Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Burkettonhe This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

archied I recently viewed this movie on Netflix and was struck by the impression that a movie with a similar plot and circumstances would probably not be produced in the US or the UK. Kudos to the makers of this film who had the courage to tell a true story that most people probably were never aware of and where the characters involved do not fit a preferred template. Most foreign-made movies I've seen on Netflix often are superior to American films in both content and acting, primarily because they are devoid of Hollywood scripting/acting where characters mechanically spew their lines with no reflection of authentic human character or realism.

Sindre Kaspersen French screenwriter, producer and director Alexandre Arcady's seventeenth feature film which he produced and wrote with French screenwriters Antoine Lacomblez and Emilie Frèche, is an adaptation of a book from 2009 by Ruth Halimi and French author and screenwriter Emilie Frèche. It premiered in France, was shot on locations in France and is a French production. It tells the story about a mother named Ruth, a father named Didier Halimi and their son named Ilan Halimi.Distinctly and precisely directed by French filmmaker Alexandre Arcady, this quietly paced and somewhat fictional tale which is narrated interchangeably from multiple viewpoints, draws an immediately present and reflectively informative portrayal of a French police case from the late 2000s where a French-Jewish citizen and brother was kidnapped and held hostage for ransom. While notable for its versatile and atmospheric milieu depictions, distinct cinematography by cinematographer Gilles Henry, production design by production designer Tony Egry and costume design by costume designer Éric Perron, this narrative-driven and dialog-driven story about French police history and anti-Semitism which is inspired by real events which took place in Paris, France in 2006, contains a great and timely score by composer Armand Amar.This authoritatively concentrated retelling which is set in France in the 21st century and where a twenty-three-year-old human being of Moroccan origins who was taken against his will is the communicator, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, subtle character development, rhythmic continuity, comment by Ruth Halimi: "If my son was not Jewish, he would not be…" and the reverent acting performance by French actress, screenwriter and director Zabou Breitman. A testamentary narrative feature.

maurice yacowar Even if we set aside the reality of this film, it's a compelling police procedural. In France a 24-year-old man set up by a honeypot, then kidnapped for ransom,. The family would pay what they can but the police don't want to encourage further kidnapping. They prevent any publicity, fearing the kidnappers would kill the man once they know they're involved. The police specialists enforce their strategy. Sometimes the family's women fall out of line because their emotions are stronger, making them more vulnerable. Our best nature is our weakest; the brutes' worst is their strength.The negotiations drag on. The investigation is slowed by concerns for citizens' privacy and by the absence of clues or any witnesses' testimony. The police stop the head man for an identity check but have no reason to detain him. That scene probably provokes the indignation of every cinema audience in Western civilization. But we know the guy's guilt because we saw the movie; the police haven't so don't. A possible arrest is bungled by another police division. That ends negotiations. The man is dumped in the countryside and set afire. He's found near a highway but dies en route to the hospital. He had been brutally tortured for 24 days and not fed for 14. Finally a salesgirl coaxes a woman friend who knew of the operation to turn herself in. The culprits are arrested, convicted and jailed. It's a thrilling suspense story, impeccably performed and produced. It raises the appropriate issues about kidnapping and ransom strategies, the victim family's interest vs the public's, the balance between a vigilant police and an intrusive one. Good film.Then there's the reality. It raises this genre thriller to a cultural document.It's the story of the 1986 abduction, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi by a Parisian Arab gang who targeted Jews because they supposedly have more money. A rabbi admits the community has paid some ransoms in the past, so the stratagem continues.Still, Ilan was targeted because he was Jewish. His abductors' antisemitism is clear in his torture. When the mother initially fears the Muslim abductors will repeat the Daniel Pearl story her husband assures her: "This is not Pakistan." He proves wrong. The police refuse to acknowledge it as a race crime so stick to their normal ransom playbook. Because the victim is a Jew the shopgirl ignores the case. She could have saved his life. The race element could have engaged the entire Paris police force, not just the local division. Even after Ilan has been found and his horrible abuse noted, the chief prosecutor denies race was involved. Buckling under pressure the magistrate finally accepts antisemitism but only as an "aggravating" circumstance. A year later the mother has the body exhumed and moved to Jerusalem. His torturers would soon be released and she didn't want them to find his grave in Paris where they could spit on it.Clearly the French government wants to avoid any suggestion of a cultural war with Muslim radicals. They're also embarrassed by the resurgence of French antisemitism, which seems higher now than at any point since the Nazi occupation. Otherwise how could they vote at the UN Security Council in favour of granting the Palestinians unilateral statehood and compelling the Jews to leave Judea, Sumeria and Jerusalem (all of which were clearly part of the promised Jewish state of Palestine), which would expose Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to short-range Hamas rockets. In France Muslim votes far outweigh the Jewish.This denial of reality is not limited to the French. Ottawa insisted its recent jihadist attacks were just lunatic not terrorist, despite the jihadist rhetoric. North American campuses are rife with antisemitic rhetoric and violence that are excused as political discussion. What US networks are showing the satiric cartoons that the current Paris slaughter is intended to punish? Muslim terrorists are winning by intimidation.When the gang leader is finally arrested in the Ivory Coast and extradited, his last words are "I'll be back and I'll kill you all." The "I'll be back" may be an angry but idle threat for him. But it's true for the antisemitic bloodlust that has returned across Europe and North America and encourages the Palestinians to continue their 90-year-old plan to drive the Jews into the sea.

jxc-131-460850 I didn't realize that there were so many anti-Jewish people on IMDb who could not get passed the fact that the victim was Jewish. I would feel badly toward any type of victim out there, Arab, Jewish, Black, Asian, or even White.I agree with the person who wrote that people were judging the film on its merit without even watching it. I thought that it was very well acted. It managed to be suspenseful even to people who knew the outcome of the events, which is a difficult feat.If you have a chance see this film which will give you a slice of history.