The Hamburg Cell (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Antonia Bird

Writers:

Ronan Bennett (writer)
Alice Perman (writer)

Release Date:

10 January 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A fictionalized account of the September 11 hijackers.

Plot Keywords:

Muslim | Martyrdom | Hijacker | Terrorist | Flight School

Cast

Karim Saleh	...	Ziad Jarrah
Maral Kamel	...	Mohammed Atta (as Kamel)
Agni Scott	...	Aysel (as Agni Tsangaridou)
Omar Berdouni	...	Ramzi bin al Shibh
Adnan Maral	...	Marwan Shehhi
Kamel Boutros	...	Mohammed Atta (as Kamel)
Tamer Doghem	...	Zacarias Moussaoui
Khalid Laith	...	Abdul Aziz AlOmari
Nasser Memarzia	...	Assem
Omar El-Saeidi	...	Said al Ghamdi
Bassem Breish	...	Yasser
Mark Clifton	...	Flight Simulation Instructor
Navíd Akhavan	...	Salim
Joel Kirby	...	FBI Agent
Clayton Nemrow	...	Pan Am Instructor

Runtime:

Germany:100 min | USA:106 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Arabic | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Central Station, St. Georg, Hamburg, Germany

Company:

Mentorn Television

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: During the earlier flight training in the Cessna they showed the terrorist in the right seat. During flight instruction, the flight instructor always sits on the right and the student on the left (pilot's seat).

Quotes:

Ziad Jarrah: [On a cell phone] I'm at the departure lounge.
Marwan Shehhi: Me too.
Ziad Jarrah: Our time has come at last...

Soundtrack:

Forsaken

Excellent chronicle, non-inflammatory except to the most extreme viewer

Dramatisation by renowned filmmaker Antonia Bird of the characters and events involved in the 9/11 attacks. The approach is very laid back, is statedly on the basis of three years research and 'known facts and events.' so is something of a chronicle. It avoids demising the hijackers (so such a film could probably never have been made in America) and Bird points out that not only were they real people, intelligent people, who devoutly believed what they were doing was the right thing, but that it is important for us to understand that and the how and the why. We see the main character as a highly intelligent man, seeking to become a better person by becoming a better Muslim, and thence drawn into the training group. Other factors like the American influence in Palestine (central in most Middle-East Muslims' minds) are mentioned briefly, but the story develops in a natural way - a young man joining those prepared to fight for Islam and 'do something worthwhile'. He switches studies to go to flight school and has perfect skills at 'blending' with westerners. The film is unsensational, but without proselytising for either 'side' manages to at least shed some light on the hijackers motives and mentality.