Image by lakerae via FlickrThe Hamburg Cell is about how one group of the 9/11 hijackers/terrorists moved from 'regular students' to murderers.It goes through their recruitment, indoctrination, and training and tells a fascinating story about the personal lives of some of these individuals. The challenges that they face, the relationship that they have.
The director said he wanted to show that they were "regular" people with normal issues. I think he did this, in the sense that they had wives, families, and angst. No question about that.
But I don't think he was morally equivocating. He showed a violent side of Islam that will rest at nothing to destroy America and the West. I walked away saddened by the existence of this threat and still shocked that there are those who, in my estimation, minimize its severity.
Much like in Munich, I did not feel that the "humanization" of the terrorists by the telling of "their story" made me sympathetic or empathetic to their cause. There may be some who have that reaction, but not many.
If you are looking to get a better understanding of radical Islam, this is a good movie to watch. Plus, as an alum of the German university system, it accurately represented elements of German student life, to which I could relate.
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