If
there is one heroic figure in this documentary, it is Prince Muhammad bin
Nayef, who crushed Al Qaeda’s campaign of terror in Saudi Arabia with a
forceful armed response and close coordination with Western intelligence
agencies. Since then, he has been purged of his government office and his place
in the royal succession. Oh well. At least, he proved you can win a war against
terrorism (or come close enough for government work). Viewers will get an
eye-opening look at Al Qaeda in footage the terrorists shot of themselves (with
some supplemental video shot by Saudi security forces) throughout Jonathan
Hacker’s Path of Blood (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Forget
Eric Hoffer’s True Believer. Ali, the
Jihadi who we meet in the opening scene is such a clueless simpleton, he literally
asks the Islamist recording his intended martyrdom video to use “smaller words.”
For him, the choice between building a life in the here-and-now or opting for a
fantastical harem of virgins in the afterlife is probably a no-brainer. One
thing is certain: the candid footage of him and his other fellow Islamist
extremists does not paint a flattering picture—and they shot it themselves.
Unfortunately,
the collected videos suggest the savagery of the Al Qaeda terrorists even
exceeds their stupidity. Despite Ali’s awkward blooper reel, this film is
absolutely nothing like Al Qaeda’s Funniest
Home Videos. There are some absolutely chilling clips, including some of
the final minutes of American hostage Paul Marshall Johnson Jr.’s life, before
he was beheaded on camera. Hacker largely spares us the actually murders, but
plenty of the resulting blood and gore can be seen uncensored and unsanitized. That
can be hard to watch, but the fact Mark Boal (screenwriter and producer of Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker) is onboard as an executive producer should reassure a lot of
viewers.
Hacker
also incorporates several scenes of the Saudi security forces taking the fight
to Al Qaeda, mostly shot by Saudi law enforcement. There is chaos and
bloodshed, but it is clear the Saudi forces are professional and highly
motivated. Indeed, it is easy to see why the Saudi authorities were willing to
share all this footage they either confiscated or shot themselves. Without a
doubt, it documents an unqualified win over Al Qaeda, scored by the very same
nation that was so embarrassed by its high-level connections to bin Laden. Of
course, now that Prince Muhammad is on the outs, and possibly under house
arrest, the PR points are suddenly a bit muddled again.
Regardless,
Path is enormously instructive by exposing
the psychology and ideology of Al Qaeda terrorists. It also identifies some
potentially winning strategies for fighting terrorism. It is worth noting none
of the martyrs and murderers ever goes off on Israel. Frankly, the Israeli
issue just doesn’t seem to be on their radar. Prince Muhammad and the House of Saud
are a different matter entirely. The resulting film, quite brilliantly cut
together by editor Peter Haddon (with some additional wok done by Kirsi Pyy and
Bob H. Woodward), is profoundly illuminating and often deeply disturbing. Highly
recommended for tough, inquiring viewers, Path
of Blood opens this Friday (7/13) in New York, at the IFC Center.
