The Siege
Encyclopedia
The Siege is a 1998 American thriller film directed by Edward Zwick
. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks on New York City
. It stars Denzel Washington
, Annette Bening
, Tony Shalhoub
, and Bruce Willis
.
barracks in Saudi Arabia leading to both civilian and military American casualties. The U.S. blames a group led by Sheikh
Ahmed bin Talal who is subsequently kidnapped and held under the watch of Major General William Devereaux.
FBI Special Agent
Anthony Hubbard and his Lebanese-American partner Frank Haddad are told of a hijacked bus, fully loaded with passengers and containing an apparent explosive device
. The bomb turns out to be a paint bomb and the terrorists manage to escape. The FBI receives warnings to release Sheikh Ahmed bin Talal.
Hubbard eventually comes into conflict with CIA officer Elise Kraft. Hubbard takes a terrorist suspect into custody and arrests Kraft. Afterwards another terrorist threat is made and a bus is bombed. When the FBI captures a man named Samir Nazhde he admits to signing the visa application of one of the suicide bombers in the course of signing many applications for student visas in his job as a lecturer. However, Kraft insists that Samir is not a terrorist and that his continued freedom is vital to the investigation.
The terrorist incidents begin to escalate. A crowded theater is bombed, a kindergarten is held hostage, and FBI headquarters is destroyed with over 600 casualties.
In spite of objections, the President declares martial law
and the 101st Airborne Division
, under Devereaux, occupies and seals off Brooklyn in an effort to find the remaining terrorist cells. Subsequently all young males of Arab descent, including Haddad's son Frank, Jr., are rounded up and detained in Yankee Stadium
. Haddad resigns in anger. New Yorkers stage violent demonstrations against the army and the racial profiling of the Arabs and the Army fights to maintain control. There are reports of Army killings.
Hubbard and Kraft, now going by the name Sharon Bridger, continue their investigation and capture a suspect, Tariq Husseini. Devereaux kills Husseini in the course of the interrogation. Afterward, Bridger tells Hubbard that Husseini knew nothing of value because of the principle of compartmentalized information
and, sickened, she finally tells Hubbard what she knows. It is revealed that she herself provided training and support to militants opposed to Saddam Hussein
's regime. After the funding was cut, she took pity on the few of them who had not yet been slaughtered by Hussein's forces, and arranged for them to escape to the United States, ultimately leading to the present situation. She and Hubbard compel Samir to arrange a meeting with the final terrorist cell. Hubbard convinces Haddad that he needs his help and Haddad returns to the FBI.
A multi-ethnic peace march demonstrates against the occupation of Brooklyn. As the march is getting under way Hubbard and Haddad arrive at the meeting place, but Bridger and Samir have already left. Samir reveals to Bridger that he constitutes the final cell while in another sense he says, "there will never be a last cell." He straps a bomb to his body which he intends to detonate amongst the marchers. Hubbard and Haddad arrive in time to stop him leaving but Samir shoots Bridger in the stomach as she struggles to stop him. Hubbard kills Samir but despite their best efforts he and Haddad can only watch as Bridger bleeds to death.
Hubbard, Haddad, and other FBI agents, raid Devereaux's headquarters to arrest him for the torture and murder of Husseini. Deveraux insists that under the War Powers Resolution
the authority vested in him by the President supersedes that of the court which issued the arrest warrant
. He then commands his soldiers to aim their guns at the agents, resulting in a Mexican standoff
. Hubbard reminds Devereaux that the civil liberties and human rights which he took from Husseini are what all his predecessors have fought and died for. Devereaux finally submits, and is arrested. Martial law ends and the detainees are freed, including Haddad's son.
gives the film a score of a 44% 'fresh' based on 59 reviews.
Roger Ebert
gives the film a score of 2 stars out of 4. He says that director Edward Zwick does a good job of the crowd scenes. He criticizes the film saying that although it is not intentionally offensive it is clumsy.
came out against the film. Its spokesman Hussein Ibish said "The Siege is extremely offensive. It's beyond offensive. We're used to offensive, that's become a daily thing. This is actually dangerous." He thought it was "Insidious and incendiary" because it "reinforces stereotypes that lead to hate crime
s." Ibish acknowledged that Arab terrorists did, in fact, bomb the World Trade Center in 1993, but said that Arab and Islamic groups are upset by "the very strong equation between Muslim religious practices and terrorism. ...[Thanks to this film] Every time someone goes through the Muslim ablution
, the ritual washing of hands everybody does before they pray five times a day, that image is the announcement to the viewer of the presence of violence." Echoing such criticism the Council on American-Islamic Relations
protested that "In this film, the Muslims have total disregard for human life." The groups were "faxing and calling news organizations on a regular basis" to voice their concerns.
Director Edward Zwick
had met with Arab Americans, who suggested that the story be changed to mirror the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing
, when Arabs were immediately assumed responsible. This idea was rejected. Zwick noted that The Sieges villains also include members of the U.S. government, and dismissed the criticism, saying, "Anytime you talk about issues that touch on religion of any kind, you can anticipate this kind of reaction. Should we only present every group as paragons and monoliths of virtue? The movie inspires to engender this kind of dialogue. I happen to come from the school that thinks that movies should not only make you uncomfortable, they might make you think. …You can anticipate any kind of reaction in these times in which sensitivity seems very high in the culture. I have a friend who says, if you've not offended somebody, you're a nobody. …How does it feel to be a lightning rod? It gets the blood going. I think it's better than being universally ignored. In a culture where there seems to be so much to talk about, it's good to be talked about."
"What the movie is most deeply about—it's about our own latent possibilities of repression, stereotyping and prejudice," says Zwick. "To see Americans rounded up in the streets, to see Americans put into stadiums, to see people held without habeas corpus
—to have their rights violated in such a way is such a chilling and just terrifying thing to see—that is what one takes away, I believe, from this film."
In a September 2007 interview, screenwriter Lawrence Wright
attributed the film's disaster at the box office to Muslim and Arab protests at theaters playing the film, but also claimied that it was the most rented movie in America after the September 11 attacks.
Edward Zwick
Edward M. Zwick is an American filmmaker and film producer noted for his epic films about social and racial issues. He has been described as a "throwback to an earlier era, an extremely cerebral director whose movies consistently feature fully rounded characters, difficult moral issues, and plots...
. The film is about a fictional situation in which terrorist cells have made several attacks on New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It stars Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
, Annette Bening
Annette Bening
Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
, Tony Shalhoub
Tony Shalhoub
Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
, and Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
.
Plot
The film opens with the bombing of a United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
barracks in Saudi Arabia leading to both civilian and military American casualties. The U.S. blames a group led by Sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
Ahmed bin Talal who is subsequently kidnapped and held under the watch of Major General William Devereaux.
FBI Special Agent
Special agent
Special agent is usually the title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government. An agent is a worker for any federal agency, and a secret agent is one who works for an intelligence agency....
Anthony Hubbard and his Lebanese-American partner Frank Haddad are told of a hijacked bus, fully loaded with passengers and containing an apparent explosive device
Explosive device
An explosive device is device that relies on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Explosive devices have applications as demolition devices and as weapons in the military....
. The bomb turns out to be a paint bomb and the terrorists manage to escape. The FBI receives warnings to release Sheikh Ahmed bin Talal.
Hubbard eventually comes into conflict with CIA officer Elise Kraft. Hubbard takes a terrorist suspect into custody and arrests Kraft. Afterwards another terrorist threat is made and a bus is bombed. When the FBI captures a man named Samir Nazhde he admits to signing the visa application of one of the suicide bombers in the course of signing many applications for student visas in his job as a lecturer. However, Kraft insists that Samir is not a terrorist and that his continued freedom is vital to the investigation.
The terrorist incidents begin to escalate. A crowded theater is bombed, a kindergarten is held hostage, and FBI headquarters is destroyed with over 600 casualties.
In spite of objections, the President declares martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
and the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
, under Devereaux, occupies and seals off Brooklyn in an effort to find the remaining terrorist cells. Subsequently all young males of Arab descent, including Haddad's son Frank, Jr., are rounded up and detained in Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
. Haddad resigns in anger. New Yorkers stage violent demonstrations against the army and the racial profiling of the Arabs and the Army fights to maintain control. There are reports of Army killings.
Hubbard and Kraft, now going by the name Sharon Bridger, continue their investigation and capture a suspect, Tariq Husseini. Devereaux kills Husseini in the course of the interrogation. Afterward, Bridger tells Hubbard that Husseini knew nothing of value because of the principle of compartmentalized information
Compartmentalization (intelligence)
In matters concerning information security, whether public or private sector, compartmentalization is the limiting of access to information to persons or other entities who have a need to know it in order to perform certain tasks....
and, sickened, she finally tells Hubbard what she knows. It is revealed that she herself provided training and support to militants opposed to Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's regime. After the funding was cut, she took pity on the few of them who had not yet been slaughtered by Hussein's forces, and arranged for them to escape to the United States, ultimately leading to the present situation. She and Hubbard compel Samir to arrange a meeting with the final terrorist cell. Hubbard convinces Haddad that he needs his help and Haddad returns to the FBI.
A multi-ethnic peace march demonstrates against the occupation of Brooklyn. As the march is getting under way Hubbard and Haddad arrive at the meeting place, but Bridger and Samir have already left. Samir reveals to Bridger that he constitutes the final cell while in another sense he says, "there will never be a last cell." He straps a bomb to his body which he intends to detonate amongst the marchers. Hubbard and Haddad arrive in time to stop him leaving but Samir shoots Bridger in the stomach as she struggles to stop him. Hubbard kills Samir but despite their best efforts he and Haddad can only watch as Bridger bleeds to death.
Hubbard, Haddad, and other FBI agents, raid Devereaux's headquarters to arrest him for the torture and murder of Husseini. Deveraux insists that under the War Powers Resolution
War Powers Resolution
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 is a federal law intended to check the power of the President in committing the United States to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress. The resolution was adopted in the form of a United States Congress joint resolution; this provides that the...
the authority vested in him by the President supersedes that of the court which issued the arrest warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
. He then commands his soldiers to aim their guns at the agents, resulting in a Mexican standoff
Mexican standoff
A Mexican standoff is a slang term defined as a stalemate or impasse; a confrontation that neither side can foreseeably win. The term is most often used in lieu of "stalemate" when the confrontational situation is exceptionally dangerous for all parties involved.In popular culture, the Mexican...
. Hubbard reminds Devereaux that the civil liberties and human rights which he took from Husseini are what all his predecessors have fought and died for. Devereaux finally submits, and is arrested. Martial law ends and the detainees are freed, including Haddad's son.
Cast
- Denzel WashingtonDenzel WashingtonDenzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
as FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Anthony "Hub" Hubbard - Annette BeningAnnette BeningAnnette Carol Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films...
as CIA officer Elise Kraft / Sharon Bridger - Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as U.S. Army Major General William Devereaux - Tony ShalhoubTony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
as FBI Special Agent Frank Haddad - Aasif MandviAasif MandviAasif Hakim Mandviwala , known professionally as Aasif Mandvi , is an American actor and comedian. He began appearing as an occasional contributing correspondent on The Daily Show on August 9, 2006. On March 12, 2007, he was promoted to a regular correspondent.-Early life and stage career:Mandvi...
as Khalil Saleh - Sami BouajilaSami BouajilaSami Bouajila is a French award-winning actor of Tunisian origin.Bouajila's grandfather was a Berber born in Tripoli, Libya and immigrated to Tunisia. Bouajila's father decided to immigrate to France in 1956. Sami was born and grew up in Échirolles, a suburb south of Grenoble...
as Samir Nazhde - Ahmed Ben Larby as Sheik Akhmed bin Talal
Critical response
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of a 44% 'fresh' based on 59 reviews.
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gives the film a score of 2 stars out of 4. He says that director Edward Zwick does a good job of the crowd scenes. He criticizes the film saying that although it is not intentionally offensive it is clumsy.
Box office
The film grossed $40,981,289 in North America and $75,691,623 in other territories on a budget of $70 million.Controversy
When the film opened, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination CommitteeAmerican-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee states that it is the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States. According to its web page it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities and has over 40 chapters in 24 states and members in all...
came out against the film. Its spokesman Hussein Ibish said "The Siege is extremely offensive. It's beyond offensive. We're used to offensive, that's become a daily thing. This is actually dangerous." He thought it was "Insidious and incendiary" because it "reinforces stereotypes that lead to hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
s." Ibish acknowledged that Arab terrorists did, in fact, bomb the World Trade Center in 1993, but said that Arab and Islamic groups are upset by "the very strong equation between Muslim religious practices and terrorism. ...[Thanks to this film] Every time someone goes through the Muslim ablution
Wudu
Wuḍhu is the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body using water often in preparation for formal prayers...
, the ritual washing of hands everybody does before they pray five times a day, that image is the announcement to the viewer of the presence of violence." Echoing such criticism the Council on American-Islamic Relations
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights...
protested that "In this film, the Muslims have total disregard for human life." The groups were "faxing and calling news organizations on a regular basis" to voice their concerns.
Director Edward Zwick
Edward Zwick
Edward M. Zwick is an American filmmaker and film producer noted for his epic films about social and racial issues. He has been described as a "throwback to an earlier era, an extremely cerebral director whose movies consistently feature fully rounded characters, difficult moral issues, and plots...
had met with Arab Americans, who suggested that the story be changed to mirror the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...
, when Arabs were immediately assumed responsible. This idea was rejected. Zwick noted that The Sieges villains also include members of the U.S. government, and dismissed the criticism, saying, "Anytime you talk about issues that touch on religion of any kind, you can anticipate this kind of reaction. Should we only present every group as paragons and monoliths of virtue? The movie inspires to engender this kind of dialogue. I happen to come from the school that thinks that movies should not only make you uncomfortable, they might make you think. …You can anticipate any kind of reaction in these times in which sensitivity seems very high in the culture. I have a friend who says, if you've not offended somebody, you're a nobody. …How does it feel to be a lightning rod? It gets the blood going. I think it's better than being universally ignored. In a culture where there seems to be so much to talk about, it's good to be talked about."
"What the movie is most deeply about—it's about our own latent possibilities of repression, stereotyping and prejudice," says Zwick. "To see Americans rounded up in the streets, to see Americans put into stadiums, to see people held without habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
—to have their rights violated in such a way is such a chilling and just terrifying thing to see—that is what one takes away, I believe, from this film."
In a September 2007 interview, screenwriter Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, screenwriter, staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law...
attributed the film's disaster at the box office to Muslim and Arab protests at theaters playing the film, but also claimied that it was the most rented movie in America after the September 11 attacks.