IFFR 2008: ABLE DANGER Review
Ardvark here: this is a review for a movie I missed. I'm talking about Paul Krik's "Able Danger", a satirical thriller about a spoof conspiracy. Sounds like fun!
But the one slot in my schedule where I was able to plan it in suddenly closed and I had to "abort mission". A pity as this was a world premiere AND programmed into my favorite part of the festival: "Rotterdämmerung", where the horror, anime and sci-fi films reside.
Thankfully I'm not the only person in Rotterdam, so a friend of mine was kind enough to step in and write us all a review!
May I introduce to you Kees Geuze, a friend with whom I've been visiting the International Film Festival Rotterdam every year, since, like, forever.
The stage is all yours, Kees!
And damn, it seems like I indeed missed something...
"Last night I watched "Able Danger" which had it world premiere at the IFFR just the night before. I went into the theater expecting a political pamphlet played by some left wing activists, but instead I saw a very well made film noir movie about a 9/11 conspiracy theory.
The title of the film refers to the Able Danger project which was an US army project that used advanced technology and data analysis to identify Al Qaeda members around the world. It is claimed that this program identified four of the hijackers from the 9/11 planes but the government refused to arrest these people and ordered the destruction of all data concerning this investigation.
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The plot
The movie follows Thomas Flynn, a coffee shop owner who has written a book about a 9/11 conspiracy theory in which he states that the American government used Mohammed Atta as a patsy and deliberately wanted the 9/11 attacks to happen, to have an excuse to go to war. Thomas meets a beautiful German female agent, who gives him a disc with all the encoded information about the Able Danger project. This girl also claims that a German colleague of her had an affair with Mohammed Atta and that they went out to strip bars and they all ate pork, so much for Atta being a devout Muslim. She asks Thomas for his protection because she fears for her live and has to meet someone dangerous. Because he has to go to a talkshow for an interview Thomas asks a friend of his to accompany her. When he comes back his friend is shot dead, the girl gone and he is suspected of killing the guy she was going to meet...
During the whole movie he is followed by one or more intelligent agencies. Normal shots are constantly followed by surveillance shots from one of these agencies which ads to the conspiracy feel of the movie. The main character of the movie is actually based on a real life person who runs a coffee shop in New York, the director of the movie is a regular visitor there he told us after the screening.
The movie
"Able Danger" is mostly shot in black and white with some dream and news scenes in color alternated with surveillance shots of the main characters. The whole movie has a very professional look and the acting is good. Like every film noir it has several plot changes and several endings too, so don’t leave the theater when the first credits appear on screen. Film noir fans will find quite some references to the classics like Maltese Falcon. Asked about it in a Q&A after the screening director Paul Krik also admitted this.
When you look at the political aspect of the movie you see a lot of similarities with "Zeitgeist: the Movie" like the denouncing of faith, the money theory and the 9/11 thesis.
Since 9/11 I watched a lot of movies en documentaries about the event and its aftermath at the IFFR (it was even a separate program subject here a few years back). As a movie fan I find "Able Danger" the best left wing inspired movie I have seen on the Rotterdam festivals, better than for example last year's "Death of a President".
If you want something else than your daily diet of monster movies this is definitely one to watch. "Able Danger" is an entertaining film noir with a political message which will give you and your friends plenty to talk about."
Ardvark here again: thanks Kees!
I've heard other people having fun with this film, and the audience rating has been quite good so far with an average of 3.57 (out of 5).
But what's this about a "daily diet of monstermovies"? I wish!
