Has anyone ever thought about how far the servants of the law are prepared to go in an attempt to prevent a series of terrorist acts? This extremely sensitive issue was tried to be investigated by the Australian director Gregor Jordan in his film The Unthinkable. Reviews the picture received emotional, but radically opposite. Her IMDb rating is 7.10. The project turned out to be so shocking for wide distribution that it was immediately released on DVD.
FBI workday drama
The film The Unthinkable (2010) turned out to be a very powerful and unpredictable drama, which is interesting to watch, despite the frank scenes of torture. It’s worth mentioning right away that all scenes of torture by the director are not relished, but are shown quite accurately, as far as the author’s idea allows. After all, the essence of the picture is not torture at all. The authors of the tape, screenwriter P. Woodward and director G. Jordan, offer watchers to reflect on the question: what degree of cruelty against a terrorist and his family can a modern democratic civilized society justify in order to save tens, or even hundreds of thousands of its citizens from inevitable death. The director of the film “The Unthinkable” perfectly managed to demonstrate the tension growing among people who were dedicated to the essence of the problem, their despair from powerlessness and how some of them are ready to cross an absolutely unthinkable line. That is why the picture is so named.
The plot twists and turns
The script, played in the low-budget film "The Unthinkable" (2010), is based on a hypothetical situation, according to which a single terrorist manages to get his hands on the coveted remote with the notorious red button, clicking on which will cause a nuclear collapse.
The fanatical terrorist Yusuf Atta Mohammed, bearing the name of US citizen Stephen Arthur Yanger, announces nuclear bombs embedded in three different megalopolises of the country. Moreover, he does not hide from justice and allows himself to be arrested, but he deliberately keeps silent about the location of nuclear charges. The two best government agents are trying to find out where the bombs are, until the hour "X" has arrived. At the same time, the dark-skinned mysterious agent Henry Humphries is convinced of the effectiveness of interrogation with the use of torture, and Helen Brody prefers humanity in dealing with the suspect - lawlessness is not for her. The plot of the film “The Unthinkable” is compared by many reviewers with the stretched strings that tremble on the nerves of key actors who embody different concepts of justice. And each of them exists in reality: the executioner is the power of pain and brute force, Brody is the observance of laws and civil rights, the terrorist is fear and chaos.
Artistic hyperbolization
The reviews of some viewers contain claims against the creators, often turning into accusations of thickening colors. Naturally, the film contains purely cinematic conventions. If we take it objectively, then the situation at the heart of the plot is really far-fetched, because it is no secret that special services in extreme cases do not resort to the services of “executioners”, but simply use “truth serum”. Formally, it was not necessary to torture a terrorist at all, it was enough to inject an appropriate solution, and he immediately recognized everything. Modern advances in chemistry and pharmacology achieve more significant results than a tormentor with a vise and a scalpel. And the story of how he got in Ukraine 8 kilograms of plutonium, which, after being transported to the United States, is simply ridiculous. In this, the authors of the reviews for the film "The Unthinkable" are clearly right. But the picture is not about whether or not it is possible to craft a makeshift nuclear bomb at home. It is about limits, moral choices and whether it is possible to defeat terrorists in civilized standard ways. To all this, the project is difficult to blame for political incorrectness. The authors do not exaggerate the religious aspect, and they made the terrorist a white American.
The best roles. Executioner
Most critics in their reviews of the film "The Unthinkable" spoke positively about the demonstrated mastery of the acting ensemble of the film. Although the best role was called the character of Samuel L. Jackson. The actor really played amazingly, despite the apparent odiousness of the image. He very truthfully and convincingly showed the way from a retired father to a desperate person, delicately balancing on the verge of madness, no longer aware of the difference between a criminal threatening society and an innocent child. The character transforms into a forced tormentor, able to use his monstrous talents, seeking answers to the questions posed, albeit in extremely unattractive ways.
Terrorist
Many filmmakers noted Michael Sheen's unsurpassed skill. His hero is a pretty young man of fragile physique who was terribly tortured, but he laughed in the face of his tormentors. Watching his fate, you understand that only fanatical conviction and amazing stamina allow the Younger to endure nightmare bullying. The skill of the actor is hard not to admire. It’s one thing to embody the spectacular Castor on the screen in the movie “Tron: Legacy,” but it’s quite another to play the image of a terrorist, demonstrating indicative fortitude.
The actors of the film "The Unthinkable" Carrie-Anne Moss and Martin Donovan played supporting characters and this fully realized the potential of their characters, clearly revealing to the viewer their characteristics.
Real tough drama
Despite the diverse reviews of the film "The Unthinkable", it is impossible to deny the fact that the project turned out to be cruel, leaving no hope and illusions, convincingly demonstrating the reality of such a situation in modern society. This situation, sadly, is possible, and the tape does not allow us to forget about it.