Review of the Movie Citizen - Essay Example

The Citizen The Citizen movie was directed by Sam Kadi and was released in the year It was written by Samir Younis, Sam Kadi, Jazmen Brown and the starring were Khaled El Nabawy, Rizwan Manji, Cary Elwes, Agnes Bruckner, and William Atherton. This movie was filmed in the city of New York. The movie rotates around the life of a handsome, kindhearted foreigner from Lebanon who only needs the chance to have a better life. He is a Muslim and migrates to America after traveling from country to country. He has been in Syria and Iraq countries. Ibrahim wins a green-card lottery, which allows him to move to United States of America (Stein 3). At the immigration desk, he meets an officer whom they converse. Ibrahim tells him of miseries he has underwent to get there and the officer stamp Ibrahim papers and reveal to him he has arrived in a nice city. This was on the tenth September 2001 a day before attacks happens. The Citizen is based on true story of what happened in the 9/11 to Arabs and Arab Americans immigrants. This movie tells of a story of being the wrong person in the wrong place and time. Although Ibrahim makes it through he had undergone many challenges and struggle as he attempts to become a good citizen Series of problem sets in the life of Ibrahim. His cousin who was to pick him at the airport fails to do so but this does not worry him a lot. Some hours later Ibrahim meets Diane lovely American woman whom they become friends. Both Ibrahim and Diane check in to Brooklyn hotel, the same hotel which Diane junky boyfriend has moved out to berserk her. Bad luck seems to keep following Ibrahim even in his new country. From his hotel that morning when he wakes up, he is shocked by what he sees and he is disturbed when he strolls that afternoon. Later that evening as Ibrahim returns to the hotel he is arrested by the FBI, interrogate and jailed. He is not permitted to contact by anybody from the outside world and is told that terrorist cannot get lawyers by a government agent who is convinced that Ibrahim’s travel history is tied to the attack. He is then released after six months, which he finds the outside world to be discriminative to the Arabs and Muslims. This is evident during his search for work where Arabs were to change their names to be employed (Stein 6). However, Ibrahim meets Diane again, finds a job as English teacher, and tries to live as a good citizen who has positive intentions. On the eve of him getting citizenship, he is notified that he is going to be deported because his name is the same as one of the hijackers. He is therefore needed to defend his citizenship in an emotional courtroom. He befriends a homeless person who robs him. Ibrahim is seen intervening for a Jewish person when racist assaults him. This leads to fight and he ends up in the hospital (Stein 8). The movie has intermittent strengths as seen from the beginning to the three quarters of the film(Stein 12). It has appropriate turns of warm and chilly cinematography with strong images like those of Ibrahim walking aimlessly after being released with his American-flag T-shirt and leaves a gate open. The relationship of the main characters in the film is well brought out. They bring out mixed feelings in different scenes of the movie, in some cases their chemistry seem to be complicated and compelling, in some scenes there is twinges of romance which ranges to patron relationship while in other scenes the chemistry of father-daughter relationship is brought out. The movie presents itself as real with an approachable sense, plays out in clichés, and possesses broad drawn line (Stein 17). In some scenes of the movie the former president of America who was the president at that time appeared on the film giving out speech on issues of freedom or speech of either you are with the government or with the terrorist. This scene brought out a tone in the movie. Ibrahim is presented as a sympathetic character, a simple person who has every right to succeed and make his life worthy and live out the American dream. He is so devoted and compelled to do the right things like sheltering a homeless man or trying to intervene with a gang when a Jewish man was assaulted in front of him with racist. The people rotating around the main character like Diane are presented as artificially and she represents the Americas charitable. Another woman in the film who is presented as artificial like the main character is the Lebanese woman. She hangs for a long period in the film and only delivers a speech that tempts Ibrahim to return home and give up with the Americas. The movie also depicts the struggle, drama and stress immigrants are faced with in the Americas system while they have nothing more than modest and are thoroughly patriotic of the Americas dream. Ibrahim is considered as a perfect immigrant who will not be objected by the immigration system. He is so polite, humble, brave, openhearted, and hardworking but he is still harassed as a racist. Ibrahim is presented as a less human and the writer does not balance the senses of frustration that he is faced with. Although at time, he is wounded and there is little sense of human anger, facial expression, and desires. The play does not develop its plot to satisfactory (Stein 26). Very little scenes that will give u a pause about the plot are developed. The movie feels like there is no scene in which an act motivated by racism or blind governments happens to rough people but only happens to the nice people. The film does not go over and explain on certain plot scenes like after others were depurated what happened to them. Less is also said about attacks that arose due to racism or media reporting The movie also features some spicy moments (Stein 32). This spicy moment like when Ibrahim is applying for a job, the interviewer advises him to change his name while he reveals his to be Arabic name. The film also suffers some down moments and clichés like Ibrahim befriending a homeless man and his escalating relationship with a Muslim woman whom they met in a citizenship class Reference Stein, Gertrude. A Movie review. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press, 2005. Print. Read More