KINGDOM of CHAOS

1
KINGDOM of CHAOS

• Mr. McFadden
• KINGDOM of CHAOS. By Eagan, Daniel, Film Journal
  International, Sep2007, Vol. 110, Issue 9

2
Objectives

• Summarize the movie, The Kingdom
• Explain scenes that enable us to grasp a better
  understanding of the Middle East
• Recall favorite scenes from The Kingdom
• Explain scenes that give favorable and
  unfavorable impressions of the Middle East
• Compare what weve learned from Mr. Roth to what
  we learn from The Kingdom
• Assess the difficulty of conducting an
  investigation of terrorism in a foreign place
• Interpret what we can learn culturally about
  NASACA from The Kingdom

3
Idea for Movie

• Where did Peter Berg find the idea?
• Memoir by former FBI director Louis J. Freeh
• Writing about 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers
• FBI agents had difficulty conducting
• the investigation

4
Idea for Movie

• Michael Mann Scott Stuber Producers
• Believed it would work if focused on the criminal
  investigation, not politics
• Berg- "That's one thing I think Americans don't
  consider when they are confronted with a suicide
  bombing.
• "We don't really look at acts of terrorism as
  crimes. We don't look past the bomber to the
  people who weren't caught, the people who
  organized and recruited and financed the
  bombers.

5
Location

• Berg- filmmaker visa from Prince Turki al Faisal
• Allowed to spend 10 days in Saudi Arabia
• Closed society- no movie theatres, no public
  film community
• Able to recreate Saudi society in Abu Dhabi, U.
  A. E.
• Ironically, Saudis seemed to be open to Western
  culture
• Teens with Eminem and Jay-Z t-shirts
• Late-night Internet café

6
Cast of Characters

• Jamie Foxx agreed to take difficult role
• Chris Cooper and Jennifer Garner followed
• Two Saudi Arabian roles played by Palestinians
• Ashraf Barhom Ali Suliman
• Berg- "I always thought of this film as a buddy
  film between an American and an Arab.

7
Cast of Characters

• Lead actors trained with FBI students
• Attended bomb school near LA
• Difficulty finding Saudis for all the roles
• Casting- Palestinians, Kuwaitis, Iraqis,
  Egyptians
• 15 regional accents- Berg was prepared to hear
  complaints about dialogue

8
Films Centerpiece

• Just before shooting of centerpiece- Israel
  attacked Hamas in Lebanon
• Had to cancel two-week scene and shoot it Mesa,
  Arizona
• Abu Dhabi officials wanted to him reconsider
• Heat- drawback in Mesa
• Garner fainted one time

9
Housing Compound (Movie Begins)

• America inside Saudi Arabia
• Place for Westerners to live
• Oil and natural gas employees
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Aramco
• http//americanbedu.com/2011/03/07/saudi-arabia-th
  e-western-compound/

10
Questions?

• http//www.imdb.com/title/tt0431197/

11
Final Points

• Berg- The Kingdom could be perceived as
  jingoistic, overtly pro-American. That's clearly
  not the message of the film. My goal was to try
  to present Muslim culture in a way that wasn't
  inflammatory, but that showed humans, families,
  people trying to live their lives. There has to
  be a moderate Arab population, or everyone over
  there would be dead.
• "I'm aware that audiences are cheering when
  Jennifer Garner kills an Arab in one scene.
  That's not a reaction I entirely anticipated, but
  I do understand it. I don't think it's a
  jingoistic cheer for killing Arabs because I've
  seen Arabs applaud at that moment too. I think, I
  hope, it's more a 'good guy beating a bad guy'
  moment.
• Berg admits- "The concept of a military
  resolution to the problems of the Middle East is
  not realistic. What we are doing now is creating
  new generations of haters."