SALON

Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013 10:50 PM UTC

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist”: Is the Princeton grad a jihadi?

Riz Ahmed plays a financial genius turned Islamic intellectual in Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist"

By

Topics: Movies, Thrillers, Pakistan, Mira Nair, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Riz Ahmed, Terrorism, War on Terror, Editor's Picks,

People who show up for “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” expecting an exotic and morally murky thriller about terrorism, somewhat in the “Homeland” and “Zero Dark Thirty” vein, will get it – at least for a while. No doubt it would be good for business if I told you that Mira Nair’s film, adapted from a novel by Mohsin Hamid, was about an American-educated young man who turns to violent radicalism. But this story only seems to be about that, and not for long. “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” begins with a classic opening sequence of misdirection and disorientation, in which we see an American academic kidnapped off the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, while a handsome young Pakistani receives text messages and photos that seem to link him to the crime. All this bewildering night action is set to a hypnotic traditional Pakistani folk tune, performed live in the street around a bonfire.

We’re not sure what has happened and who is responsible, and also seduced by what might be called the intentional Orientalism of the scene. Both effects are part of the method of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” which is not fundamentally a story about terrorism or Islam or the CIA at all. Nair (perhaps best known for her debut film, “Salaam Bombay!,” and more recently for her adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s “The Namesake”), who was born in India but has family roots in Lahore, is deliberately trying to sow confusion in the minds of viewers, and Western viewers in particular. If we view Rainier (Gary Richardson), the abducted professor, as an innocent educator and his young colleague Changez (Riz Ahmed) as an Islamist radical, we will see the story one way. If we see Changez as an independent scholar being persecuted by his own government, and Rainier as a CIA operative, we may understand it differently.

A day or two after Rainier is kidnapped, an American journalist named Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber) comes to interview Changez in a labyrinthine rooming house near the Lahore University campus, trying to figure out whether the firebrand academic knows where his missing colleague is and can intervene to gain his release. For most of the film Changez and Bobby move through the building in a manner that seems increasingly metaphorical, while Changez spins out a long and improbable Scheherazade-style story of who he is and how he got here. Each man believes he can see through the other’s disguise: Changez feels sure that Bobby is using his press credential to gather information for American intelligence, and Bobby feels sure that Changez is driving idealistic young Pakistanis toward al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Ahmed, the British-born star of Chris Morris’ “Four Lions” and Michael Winterbottom’s “Trishna,” began his career on good looks and glibness (he was a rapper before he was an actor), but proves himself here in an exceedingly difficult role. Changez is a chameleonic character, difficult to figure out and not easy to like or even admire. As he tells Bobby, he began as a child of the post-independence Pakistani intelligentsia, low on funds but rich in cultural capital. A compulsive overachiever, he goes to Princeton on a 1990s scholarship, carries a 4.0 average, and lands a treasured job at a high-end Wall Street firm. His recruiter and mentor is Jim Cross (Kiefer Sutherland), a stern, hard-driving boss who identifies Changez as a financial whiz who mirrors his own modest beginnings. Even in horn-rimmed spectacles and a suit, Sutherland’s mere presence is of course a wry reference to “24,” the high-low point in pop-culture terrorist paranoia.

Feeling alienated from his own family – and especially his impoverished, absent-minded father, a prominent Punjabi poet – Changez seizes upon Jim and his promise of the meritocratic American dream with the zeal of a new convert. Indeed, this is the point of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” and it may be a smidgen too close to the surface: Orthodoxy with a sword in its hand is always something to be feared, and the orthodoxy of someone like Jim Cross is every bit as destructive, in its own way, as that of Osama bin Laden. Changez becomes a ruthless archangel of financial analysis, shedding jobs and shuttering divisions in company after company without any regard for the human cost.

Indeed, only when his globetrotting tour of destruction brings him to Istanbul, to close down a venerable Turkish literary house that once published translations of his dad’s poetry, does Changez come face to face with his contradictory position – and by then the course of world history has altered in any case. He watches the twin towers collapse from an overseas hotel room in the fall of 2001, and then comes “home” to an America where people with his skin color and religious background are suddenly viewed with intense suspicion. Even as a left-wing American with almost no sympathy for “war on terror” rhetoric,  I was extremely uncomfortable with this aspect of the film. I kept trying to assure myself that a Pakistani financial professional with an expensive suit and a valid passport wouldn’t be subjected to a cavity search at the airport, or police harassment on the streets of Manhattan – and then remembering that there’s no possible way to exaggerate the level of post-9/11 anti-Islamic paranoia.

All this amounts, mostly, to a compelling melodramatic swirl, with Nair and screenwriter William Wheeler (working from a story by novelist Hamid and Ami Boghani) occasionally bringing us back to Lahore, where campus violence is building and Bobby keeps trying to fend off a CIA “exfiltration” squad so Changez can finish his story. Nair has always created ravishing images (aided here by cinematographer Declan Quinn) and the locations here, mostly Lahore and Delhi, are used to create intense and compelling atmosphere. But despite Ahmed’s magnetic performance, Changez comes off as a self-centered jerk who’s needlessly cruel to his American girlfriend (Kate Hudson) and gets religion – both metaphorically and literally – rather late in the day. And I kept fruitlessly hoping that Bobby, the reporter and/or CIA asset played by Schreiber, would be offered some measure of redemption or at least dramatic complexity.

All that said, the stealth anti-capitalism of “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” like its reminder that the basic moral equation of the “war on terror” looks very different from different vantage points, is a badly needed corrective in our propaganda-drenched society. This movie feels a little half-baked to me in the sense that it carries an exceedingly complicated intellectual agenda below the surface of a conventional thriller, and doesn’t execute either level as well as it might. At its most basic, this is a tragic human story about two deeply compromised people who long to declare their independence from a corrosive and totalizing global conflict that threatens to destroy all thought. Like the rest of us, they have moments when they almost get there.

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” opens this week in New York and Los Angeles, with more cities to follow. It will be available on-demand beginning April 30, from cable, satellite and online providers.

Andrew O

More Andrew O'Hehir.

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

7 motorist-friendly camping sites

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Sponsored Post

  • White River National Forest via Lower Crystal Lake, Colorado
    For those OK with the mainstream, White River Forest welcomes more than 10 million visitors a year, making it the most-visited recreation forest in the nation. But don’t hate it for being beautiful; it’s got substance, too. The forest boasts 8 wilderness areas, 2,500 miles of trail, 1,900 miles of winding service system roads, and 12 ski resorts (should your snow shredders fit the trunk space). If ice isn’t your thing: take the tire-friendly Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway — 82 miles connecting the towns of Meeker and Yampa, half of which is unpaved for you road rebels.
    fs.usda.gov/whiteriveryou


    Image credit: Getty

  • Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest via Noontootla Creek, Georgia
    Boasting 10 wildernesses, 430 miles of trail and 1,367 miles of trout-filled stream, this Georgia forest is hailed as a camper’s paradise. Try driving the Ridge and Valley Scenic Byway, which saw Civil War battles fought. If the tall peaks make your engine tremble, opt for the relatively flat Oconee National Forest, which offers smaller hills and an easy trail to the ghost town of Scull Shoals. Scaredy-cats can opt for John’s Mountain Overlook, which leads to twin waterfalls for the sensitive sightseer in you.
    fs.usda.gov/conf


    Image credit: flickr/chattoconeenf

  • Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area via Green Road, Michigan
    The only national forest in Lower Michigan, the Huron-Mainstee spans nearly 1 million acres of public land. Outside the requisite lush habitat for fish and wildlife on display, the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area is among the biggest hooks for visitors: offering beach camping with shores pounded by big, cerulean surf. Splash in some rum and you just might think you were in the Caribbean.
    fs.usda.gov/hmnf


    Image credit: umich.edu

  • Canaan Mountain via Backcountry Canaan Loop Road, West Virginia
    A favorite hailed by outdoorsman and author Johnny Molloy as some of the best high-country car camping sites anywhere in the country, you don’t have to go far to get away. Travel 20 miles west of Dolly Sods (among the busiest in the East) to find the Canaan Backcountry (for more quiet and peace). Those willing to leave the car for a bit and foot it would be remiss to neglect day-hiking the White Rim Rocks, Table Rock Overlook, or the rim at Blackwater River Gorge.
    fs.usda.gov/mnf


    Image credit: Getty

  • Mt. Rogers NRA via Hurricane Creek Road, North Carolina
    Most know it as the highest country they’ll see from North Carolina to New Hampshire. What they may not know? Car campers can get the same grand experience for less hassle. Drop the 50-pound backpacks and take the highway to the high country by stopping anywhere on the twisting (hence the name) Hurricane Road for access to a 15-mile loop that boasts the best of the grassy balds. It’s the road less travelled, and the high one, at that.
    fs.usda.gov/gwj


    Image credit: wikipedia.org

  • Long Key State Park via the Overseas Highway, Florida
    Hiking can get old; sometimes you’d rather paddle. For a weekend getaway of the coastal variety and quieter version of the Florida Keys that’s no less luxe, stick your head in the sand (and ocean, if snorkeling’s your thing) at any of Long Key’s 60 sites. Canoes and kayaks are aplenty, as are the hot showers and electric power source amenities. Think of it as the getaway from the typical getaway.
    floridastateparks.org/longkey/default.cfm


    Image credit: floridastateparks.org

  • Grand Canyon National Park via Crazy Jug Point, Arizona
    You didn’t think we’d neglect one of the world’s most famous national parks, did you? Nor would we dare lead you astray with one of the busiest parts of the park. With the Colorado River still within view of this cliff-edge site, Crazy Jug is a carside camper’s refuge from the troops of tourists. Find easy access to the Bill Hall Trail less than a mile from camp, and descend to get a peek at the volcanic Mt. Trumbull. (Fear not: It’s about as active as your typical lazy Sunday in front of the tube, if not more peaceful.)
    fs.usda.gov/kaibab


    Image credit: flickr/Irish Typepad

  • As the go-to (weekend) getaway car for fiscally conscious field trips with friends, the 2013 MINI Convertible is your campground racer of choice, allowing you and up to three of your co-pilots to take in all the beauty of nature high and low. And with a fuel efficiency that won’t leave you in the latter, you won’t have to worry about being left stranded (or awkwardly asking to go halfsies on gas expenses).


    Image credit: miniusa.com

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 9

Related Videos

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
507 points508 points | 24 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
399 points400 points | 30 comments
vote
Yes, there is a better search engine (1998)
90 points91 points | 27 comments
vote
Machiavelli doesn’t belong to the 1 percent | "The Prince" is oft-quoted on Wall Street, but its author was a hero of the working class who despised elites
94 points95 points | 33 comments
vote
Let's Stop Screwing Around and Impeach James Clapper: After lying to Congress about all the different ways the NSA's spying on us, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lies about how he lied. Call the White House at 202 456-1111 and Tell Obama to Get Rid of Clapper
84 points85 points | 9 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Joker": Laughing at life's deepest sorrows