Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/542972
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 19 JULY 2015 40 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Minions (U) 10:25, 13:40, 16:00, 18:35, 21:00 Ant-Man 3D (12) 10:15, 13:50, 16:15, 18:45, 21:15 Jurassic World (12) 10:10, 13:20, 15:55, 18:20, 21:10 Terminator: Genisys (12) 10:00, 13:00, 15:45, 18:30, 21:15 Spy (15) 15:50, 18:25, 21:00 Magic Mike XXL (15) 10:20, 13:45, 16:15, 18:40, 21:00 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Magic Mike XXL (15) 14:00, 16:25, 18:50, 21:15, 23:45 The Longest Ride (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 20:55, 23:35 San Andreas (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:15, 23:45 Mr Holmes (PG) 14:05, 16:20, 18:35, 20:50, 23:15 Entourage (15) 20:45, 23:05 Unfriended (15) 14:15, 16:15, 18:45, 21:05, 23:05 Minions 3D (U) 14:05 (2D), 16:25, 18:45(2D), 21:10, 23:40 Timbuktu (12) 14:10, 18:50, 23:25 Return to Sender (15) 14:15, 16:30, 18:50, 21:05, 23:10 Terminator: Genisys (12) 14:30, 18:10, 21:00, 23:40 Spy (15) 14:20, 18:15, 20:50, 23:25 Jurassic World (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 21:00, 23:45 Queen and Country (15) 16:20, 20:55 Poltergeist 3D (15) 14:05, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45, 23:00 Ant-Man 3D (12) 14:30, 18:10, 21:05, 23:50 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Terminator: Genisys 3D (12) 10:45, 13:20, 15:55, 18:30, 21:05, 23:40 Jurassic World (12) 10:40, 13:15, 15:50, 18:25, 21:00, 23:35 The Longest Ride (12) 10:45, 13:25, 15:55, 18:25, 20:55, 23:45 Magic Mike XXL (15) 10:50, 13:20, 15:50, 18:20, 20:50, 23:20 Minions 3D (U) 11:00 (2D), 13:20, 15:45 (2D), 18:00, 20:40, 22:45 Return to Sender (15) 11:00, 13:35, 16:00, 18:10, 20:45, 23:05 Ant-Man 3D (12) 10:40, 13:15, 15:50, 18:20, 20:50, 23:20 I'LL admit that my profession has a lot to answer for. In the international sphere, at least, the effect of the me- dia can be as damaging as much as it is penetrating. A lot will always be made of the mass media's propensity for sensationalism, though the pub- lic's apparent hunger for the 24/7 churn of panic, violence and alarm all but demands such an approach to international affairs. But this chicken-and-egg scenario can't disguise the upshot of all this: the rolling news tends to paralyze us into panic which in turn leads to indifference more often than pro- active action. And nowhere has this been more evident than in the case of the rise of Islamic terrorism over the past year or so, particularly when it comes to groups like the so-called Islamic State. Fully exploiting the interna- tional community's weakness of grand media gestures, ISIS have gone one up on their predecessors by fully exploiting both traditional and digit- al media, instilling fear through pub- lic video executions, which inevitably end up going viral - a clear example of how a system we're growing more used to with each passing day could be rigged for foul ends. But though these acts need to be given their due, and though the fear, panic and rage they may inspire is understandable and should be given its due, one sad fact in all this is that, by concentrating on the climactic culmination of the extremists' mis- sion - usually the summary execu- tion of a Western hostage - we tend to forget that there's a day-to-day di- mension to their occupying strategy. One that - as a further indictment of the Western gaze - tends to be borne by other Muslims of a far more mod- erate religious inclination. This is however the main focus of Abderrahmane Sissako's award- winning film Timbuktu. Taking its cue from the occupation of the Mal- ian city in 2012 (but swapping the Ansar Dine extremist group with ISIS for the film), the film shows us the ravages of occupation in incre- ments, not the sensationalist Grand Guignol we're fed by terrorists on a regular basis. With no real fanfare, we see a small contingent of ISIS members gradu- ally take over the city of Timbuktu. Their efforts appear halting, even comical at first - their attempts at imposing strict Sharia Law are either laughed off or deemed unworkable - by both the general populace and the moderate religious authorities - and neither do they appear to have the zeal necessary to apply their rule with the necessary conviction. But things appear to take a dark- er turn when a Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed), a peaceful cattleman and family man, is pushed to commit an act of violence. His fate appears to co- incide with the Islamic group finally closing ranks, their initial fumbling giving way to an all-encompassing oppression. Inspired by the occupation of Timbuktu by the extremist group Ansar Dine back in 2012 (the city was eventually freed by French oc- cupying forces), Sissako's film delib- erately distances the narrative away from the loud media panoply that accompanies anything related to ISIS - there is no shouting, no open bloodshed and no fetishised acts of violence on display (though its ritu- alized counterpart does, sadly, make itself known as the film progresses). This opens Sissako up to a degree of criticism: can you truly insulate groups like ISIS out of a wider con- text without losing something nec- essary in the process? Is it accurate to do so, or even responsible? A French-Mauritian production, Timbuktu could certainly be ac- cused of at least partly aesthetisising the prospect of an Islamic takeover. The pristine desert setting, photo- graphed to perfection by Sissako and his cinematographer Sofian El Fani, certainly "doesn't help", if we are to assume that this scenario should be depicted with grit and gravity. The experience is rounded off with a clutch of soulful performances, most notably from the fragile Ahmed, and Toulou Kiki, playing his stoic but de- termined wife. But what Sissako's approach in fact accomplishes is to draw us in and lead us in and inspire true empa- thy. The beauty of the surroundings cancels out the reaction that such a place is a sorry, far-flung place now beyond repair, which would there- fore make any engagement on our part be an act of charity and nothing more. Not only is the city beautiful, but it's also appears to function: re- ligion is instructive, not punitive; gender roles are not in line with the West, but women have a voice and a key role in the social fabric; and sim- ple pleasures like family life and play- ing music with your friends (subse- quently outlawed by the occupying band) make it clear that though this is a different society from our own, it's not an alien one. This is the place that the extremists encroach upon, and there is some- thing comically absurd, both in their own improvised attempts at jihad and in the way the quiet, fragile city appears to be so open, so vulnerable to such an imposition. Early on, Sis- sako nudges towards Four Lions ter- ritory, the incompetence and vague focus of the group almost matching the British-jihadist black comedy by Chris Morris from some years back. As members of the group, by turns, unsuccessfully try to film recruit- ment videos (a younger member is made to renounce his former rap music career on camera) and even fail to change gears on their land rover while negotiating the desert terrain, the temptation would be to simply laugh their attempts at oc- cupation away. Surely these can't be the same fundamentalists that in- spire terror on a global scale? But this is a disarming gesture in the real sense of the word: Sissako uses it to show just how vulnerable peaceful communities are to the cancer-like contagion of extremism. Though the inevitable violent up- shot of all this is shown at the end, what ironically cuts deeper is a more bureaucratic aspect to the group's workings. A subplot involving the forced marriage of a local woman to one of the group's footmen has its leader employing arbitrary logic - and, as has infamously been the case, equal- ly selective use of Quranic scripture - to justify their actions to the com- munity's imam. The scene doesn't have to show violence to be har- rowing, particularly after we've seen clear examples of the group failing to live up to their own draconian standards. A coda to the central drama skirts too close to obscurity - there's am- biguity, and then there's ambigu- ity - but Sissako's film nonetheless remains a sumptuous, important work. It may not present any clear-cut so- lutions to one of the pervasive anxi- eties of our time. But it does show how these situations are never black and white. Which could perhaps be the most sensible starting point to- wards a solution that we could man- age at this point. By Teodor Reljic The encroaching extremist disease ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ TIMBUKTU ★ ★ ★ ★ OVERDUE ★ ★ ★ TRIED AND TRUE ★ ★ DEJA VU ★ STOMACH FLU FILM Not-so-just deserts: Mehdi A.G. Mohamed and Ibrahim Ahmed in Abderrahmane Sissako's award-winning film Timbuktu TIMBUKTU (12A) ★ ★ ★ ★