The kingdome film (2007) - Essay Example

The Kingdom: A Review The paper is about the movie The Kingdom which was shown in 2007 directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Ashraf Barhom. Although the story is similar to real events, the plot is similar to events in real life but is it focused on the adventure of a team of FBI agents who went to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombing in the residence for foreign workers. Through the course of the story there are different issues and elements that can be observed.

One of the important elements of the movie is the introduction which presented a history of events related to the issue in the Middle East. After the discovery of the oil in 1933, the first company of Arabian and American oil, ARAMCO had been established in 1938. War then started and different problems happened. In 1973 the oil embargo occurred and lasted until 1974. Also, in the 90’s Saudi Arabia became the top oil producer in the world while US became the top oil consumer. Terrorism then rocked the world after the said period.

This became the connection of the movie to reality. The plot presented a fictitious compound, Al Rahmah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where foreign workers are living with their families and where the main focus of the movie which is the bombing occurred. Through different situations caused by different groups, the 4 FBI agents pursued the search for the people responsible for the bombing. Through the process a friendship had been established with the local military official Al-Ghazi. The attacks continued even when one of the officers had been taken by the group.

The movie presented the different social issues such as clashes of culture, traditions, religion and beliefs. The clash of culture and traditions can be observed in the minute details in the movie. One is the amount of respect given to the leaders of the country such as the Prince. Another is the scenario when the female NBI officer was asked to cover her body as a sign of respect to the Prince and the sign of following the tradition in the nation. The clash of religion and beliefs is considered as one of the main focuses of the movie since the group responsible for the bombing wants the leaders of the country and the elites to hinder foreign influences and to continue the exclusivity of the religion and the beliefs of the people.

The whole movie teaches the importance of one’s relationship to another which can influence the life of that person. The first is friendship which became the driving force for Agent Fleury to persistently go to Saudi Arabia even at dangerous situation to search for the people responsible to the death of his friend. Another is the established friendship is with Coronel Al-Ghazi who became the driving force of the group in pursuing the real leader of the group. The most powerful scene in the movie is the part wherein the leader Abu Hamza was about to die and he whispered something to the grandchild’s ear.

Upon explanation this is the same phrase Fleur whispered to Mayes to calm her down which is “we’ll kiss them all.” Just like friendship, revenge and inculcated anger is also a driving force in a person’s interaction with another. In conclusion, The Kingdom teaches that the action of a person or a group, may it be positive such as strong friendship or hatred, transcends the social factors such as nationality, race, religion and cultural background. In the movie for example, violence is not related to these factors as observed by the fact that both sides committed actions against the other without the focus on the different factors.

Work Cited Peter Berg. Dir. The Kingdom. Perf. Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Ashraf Barhom. 2007. DVD. United Pictures, 2011.