The War Within (2005)

A Pakistani involved in a planned attack in New York City experiences a crisis of conscience.

Director:

Joseph Castelo

Writers:

Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo,

Stars:

Ayad Akhtar, Firdous Bamji, Nandana Sen

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ayad Akhtar	...	Hassan
Firdous Bamji	...	Sayeed Choudhury
Nandana Sen	...	Duri Choudhury
Sarita Choudhury	...	Farida S. Choudhury
Charles Daniel Sandoval	...	Khalid
Varun Sriram	...	Ali S. Choudhury
Anjeli Chapman	...	Rasheeda S. Choudhury
John Ventimiglia	...	Gabe
Michael McGlone	...	Mike O'Reilly (as Mike McGlone)
Aasif Mandvi	...	Abdul
Ajay Naidu	...	Naved
Kamal Marayati	...	Imam
Wayman Ezell	...	Izzy
James Rana	...	Saudi Man
Christopher Castelo	...	Steven

Storyline

Sayeed Choudhury was born Pakistan but has immigrated to the U.S.A., where he now lives in New York with his wife, Farida; a school-going daughter, Rasheeda; a school-going son, Ali; and unmarried sister, Duri. One morning Farida hears a knock on the door, Ali opens it and there is Sayeed's childhood friend, Hassan, who is welcomed with open arms by the family. Hassan informs them that he is going to be hired soon in the States and he is invited to spend a few days with the Choudhury family. Duri, who has a Caucasian boyfriend, Mike, is also thrilled to meet Hassan and openly shows her attraction to him. Ali also takes an instant liking to Hassan, and is taught the true values of Islam, and when one Muslim hurts, then the pain is felt by Muslims worldwide. Sayeed is quite content with the American way of life and feels secure and comfortable especially when he sees Germans, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, and non-believers living in harmony and doing business with each other. Sayeed will ...

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Plot Keywords:

muslim | islam | pakistani | criminal plot | terrorism | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent images, some language and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Over the Mountains

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$7,540 (USA) (30 September 2005)

Gross:

$73,789 (USA) (28 October 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

HDNet Films, Coalition Films, 2929 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in 2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006)

User Reviews

Austin Movie Show review...

I liked it so much because it is complex and doesn't give easy answers. The War Within starts out with an innocent man walking down the streets of Paris and talking on his cell phone. Out of nowhere, a group of men jump out of a black SUV, grab the man on his cell, throw him into the SUV, and ship him to a prison camp in Pakistan where he is then tortured for the next three years. And all this happens even before the opening credits.

The man on his cell phone is named Hassan, and the men in the black SUV are American CIA agents who kidnap and torture Hassan because (we later learn) his brother lead a peaceful anti-war protest in Afghanistan. Three years later, after enough torture and abuse to drive any man crazy, Hassan is released from prison and travels to America to get his revenge. So clearly he's a bad guy, right? But then again, he was no threat to anyone before he was kidnapped, beaten, and tortured for three years. So then is America the bad guy? What makes The War Within so intelligent and so superb is that isn't a story about good guys and bad guys. It's a story about the mammoth "War on Terror" and how it affects a single group of Pakistani immigrants in New York. The only bad guys are the acts of violence themselves, and all sides of guilty of that. You absolutely have to see this exquisite character study and you have to tell everyone you know to see it, too.