Suicide Killers
Director Pierra Rohov has the audacity to try and open a window into the mind of a suicide bomber with this documentary. The challenge with such a thesis is that the upside-down logic of such a mind is nearly unfathomable to those outside it. It goes against all our species’ inclinations and compulsions, and against the will of the very God it intends to honor. However, we do see from this film that the pathology of a desire to die in the service of God, killing those perceived to be against God in the process, is a passionate virus in their world.
Suicide Killers is bulging with interviews, salted lightly with other footage such as training videos, bombing aftermaths, and, chillingly, one attack up close as it happens. The interviews themselves as edited do not seem to flow with a specific thesis of narrative. They are the words of imprisoned, thwarted bombers, proud families of bombers, surviving victims, and psychocultural experts. It’s very easy to find an educated, Western expert who can break down the implicit insanity of denying oneself a mortal life to achieve a promised eternal paradise, and to murder innocents to do so. It’s harder to find someone who can really explain the paradox from the inside, someone (like say, someone who has escaped a cult and can analyze the group-mind effect from both sides) who can describe how this mindset takes hold and how their actions are rationalized even in the face of going against the peaceful tenets if Islam.
I think Suicide Killers would have benefited from such insight, but it is clear that the indoctrination these bombers experiences is pervasive from birth onward, and there is only one exit: the belt and the “key to Paradise” detonator. It is alarming to see such a broad emotional disconnect between the actions and the tangible results of such actions. Suicide bombers have no need for remorse – when their deed is successful, they do not see the carnage they leave behind. They abstain from everything in the world that is life-affirming, sex, alcohol, friendships with the opposite sex, to have this semblance of purity, while planning the most impure act a human can do: murder of innocents. In the moment of their martyrdom, they believe that they obtain the instant gratification of a perfect, happy life, without the struggle to earn money, negotiate for a bride, build a business and a home, just with the press of a button. But they never consider the cost of their actions to society or to the victims.
The film itself feels a little unfocused, going over materials in a zig-zagging motion that isn’t quite a pattern. It is, certainly, damning of these bombers; while it gives them ample opportunity to tell their story, they aren’t any better understood after they speak. It’s a reminder of the depth of their conviction and only a display of the deep-rooted social-cultural-religious-economic influences, with not much why/how analysis.
I also would have liked to understand more about why parents would be proud to sacrifices their children (but not themselves), raising their kids from infants to the dream of blowing up the enemy with their (could-have-been) innocent bodies. I also wanted some more exploration of why women bombers also seek the twisted vision of heaven that beckons them – it seems only that they get to be one of the 72 promised virgins despoiled by male martyrs, but with no real reward themselves.
Suicide Killers left me knowing a lot of what, but not enough how (internal, not mechanical) and why. However, it is worth viewing for the incredible obtained footage alone.
MPAA Rating Not rated (some disturbing images and mild language)
Release date 5/1/07
Time in minutes 80
Director Pierre Rohov
Studio Cty Lights Pictures
