The idea of this film is that you can push any man so hard that he will eventually snap and turn violent -- and if he doesn't turn violent, you can just commit the violence yourself and frame him for it. It is an illustration and an allegory of the relationship that's existed between Muslim Arabs and the rest of the world for many decades. When they complain about the humiliations inflicted on them by the West, this is precisely what they mean. The whole faux-benevolent "trust me" attitude on the part of the most sinister exploiters, the foisting of Western values on them by people spouting nauseating "PC" platitudes, the spectacle of Europeans and Americans loudly proclaiming themselves victims even as they occupy, by deception and terror, Arab land, the daily metastasizing spread of Western popular culture -- all of this is mirrored in this film.
And what motivates the exploiters? Not illusions of benevolence, not even money. It is a lust for power that is itself a form of insanity. The reasons are so twisted you simply would not believe them.
The film conveys all of this rather amateurishly. The plot is ridiculously fumbled. Robin Wright's performance is nothing but a lot of scenery-chewing. (A couple of her more over-the-top scenes actually provoke giggles.) But the idea is a good one, even if it hasn't yet found a cast and crew worthy of it.
And what motivates the exploiters? Not illusions of benevolence, not even money. It is a lust for power that is itself a form of insanity. The reasons are so twisted you simply would not believe them.
The film conveys all of this rather amateurishly. The plot is ridiculously fumbled. Robin Wright's performance is nothing but a lot of scenery-chewing. (A couple of her more over-the-top scenes actually provoke giggles.) But the idea is a good one, even if it hasn't yet found a cast and crew worthy of it.