Extraordinary Rendition (2007)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Jim Threapleton

Writer:

Jim Threapleton (writer)

Release Date:

August 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A man is abducted from the streets of London and transported via secret flights to an unknown country...

Plot Keywords:

Extraordinary Rendition | Torture

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Omar Berdouni	...	Zaafir
Andy Serkis	...	The Interrogator
Ania Sowinski	...	Ewa
Jimmy Yuill	...	Dean
Hugh Ross	...	Solicitor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ehti Aslam	...	University Student
Nick Bartlett	...	Sergei Illyich
Emilio Doorgasingh	...	Guard
Greg Edwards	...	Zaafir's Father (as Ham Zanoun)
Davood Ghadami	...	Guard
Rami Hilmi	...	Guard 'Khaalid'
Luke Ireland	...	University Student
Munir Khairdin	...	Interrogator's Colleague
Goran Kostic	...	Radovan
Julian Lee	...	Officer
Angus Lindsay	...	Security Guard
Roddy McDevitt	...	Dan
Aleksander Mikic	...	Ante
Naoufal Ousellam	...	Zaafir's Brother
Laurence Possa	...	Octavian
Tony Price	...	Zaafir's Guard
Paul Viragh	...	Abductor
Zamira Wicking	...	Zaafir's Mother

Also Known As:

Rendition (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

UK:77 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Australia:MA (2008) | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Ultrafilm

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Zaafir is reciting dates of important historical events he says "Spanish Armada 1558." The date should be 1588.

Movie Connections:

References Nine Hours to Rama (1963)

Soundtrack:

The Clock

Has an important message, but doesn't know what to focus on

In the last few years, torture has become an indelible part of the film industry. Exhibit A: Saw, Hostel or any season of 24 from Day 2 onwards. Exhibit B: real-life footage that ends up on the internet. After 9/11, such material, while still disturbing, is no longer a rarity, but almost a customary element to insert in genre pictures (horror and thrillers, especially if political). As the latest addition to this trend, Extraordinary Rendition provides very little that hasn't already been told, its basic plotting and documentary-like execution making it come off as a poor man's 24.

Instead of examining the methods that are used to extract information from well known terrorists, Jim Threapleton's feature focuses on the secret sections of governments all over the world that abduct innocent people and throw unfounded accusations at them. One such innocent person is Zaafir (Omar Berdouni), a London-based teacher who is found brutally beaten at Heathrow Airport in the movie's opening sequence. As he recovers and his girlfriend tries to get him to tell everyone what happened, those events unfold on the screen: we are shown the kidnapping, the container where he is held at first, the plane that takes him somewhere in the Middle East, the terrifying procedures that are used on him while a mysterious interrogator (Andy "Gollum" Serkis) continuously asks the same questions about some criminal Zaafir is supposed to know.

The torture sequences are gruesome, and the added realism coming from the hand-held cameras and grainy cinematography ensure Threapleton manages to shock viewers with his argument: every day people are randomly abducted and harmed in all possible ways simply because they come from certain places or are associated with somebody who in return is associated with somebody else. This point of view is reflected very well: the interrogator never supplies any actual proof of the fact that Zaafir really knew the terrorist his organization is looking for, strengthening the theory that the poor fella was taken just because he was an Arab. That it never is specified what government Serkis works for also contributes to conveying the idea of this kind of thing being common everywhere.

And yet... something is missing, and that's because the director gives too much attention to the wrong section of the film:like I said before, torture is not that hard to see nowadays, meaning the largest chunk of the movie eventually becomes wearing. Too much time is wasted on the "during", while Threapleton should have cared more about constructing the "before" (providing a solid back-story that would have made the protagonist easier to empathize with) and, more crucially, the "after", analyzing the effects of these illegal actions. Sadly, that is merely a footnote in the narrative, leaving audiences understandably unimpressed by a flick that has important things to say but is unable to articulate them convincingly.