'God's Slave' Examines the Cost of Violence in the Name of Religion
Anyone who closely follows the news probably noticed the recent coverage of the very controversial bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994, a tragedy that claimed 85 lives. After the mysterious death of Argentinean Prosecutor Alberto Nisman just one day before he was scheduled to appear before Congress to formally present evidence that would incriminate Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of covering up the perpetrators of that heinous bombing, many Argentinians – especially those in the Jewish community – began to wonder if the case of the 1994 attack would ever be solved.
"God's Slave" ("Esclavo de Dios"), an award-winning film directed by Venezuelan Joel Novoa and featured in this year's Santa Barbara International, Palm Beach, Huelva, Lleida and Sephardi film festivals, was based on true events and provided great insight into the reasons why cases like the AMIA attack are so difficult to solve. It also gave its audience a peek inside the life of an Arab terrorist and the Mossad operative determined to stop him.
Ahmed Al Hassam (the Islamic terrorist and suicide bomber trainee) and David Goldman (the Mossad operative) follow their convictions throughout the movie's reimagined execution of the AMIA bombing and its aftermath. Hassam spent his adult years training to be a suicide bomber to avenge the death of his parents, whom he saw murdered by a masked Israeli operative. Conversely, Goldman, the Israeli secret agent whose brother was killed in a suicide attack, is not willing to let one more person die at the hands of a suicide bomber and begins to track Hassam in the hope of preventing another mass murder. They are both enslaved to their cause.
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Goldman, who proves to be an excellent detective, cannot believe that Hassam, a successful doctor, is able to constantly fall off his radar. Hassam had effectively integrated into society for years, and continued to remain undetected. The movie tracks both on their suspenseful collision course to martyrdom.
Hassam accepts a mission to execute a suicide attack on a synagogue, but somewhere along the line, he has a change of heart. As he drives a truck laden with explosives toward its appointed target, he begins to think about his family. A young boy gets in the way of his truck. A young boy that looks so much like his own son at home. Unable to complete his assigned task, Hassam turns the truck around, infuriating his terrorist peers.
Hassam's fleeing proves to be futile. His superiors catch up to him and take him to a secluded place to be beheaded for his treason. But as Hassam lowers his head, accepting his fate, he notices that the leader's wristwatch resembles the one belonging to the masked assailant who had slain his parents so many years ago. Hassam accuses the terrorist leader of being the actual traitor and murderer.
At that very moment, Goldman and his fellow officers, who had been following close behind the militants, intervene just in time to kill the terrorists. Hassam survives. And Goldman releases him.
As Hassam and Goldman faced each other, something happened. They both realized that they were two men with two different perspectives, both enslaved to a heartbreak they had experienced when they were very young. They both understood that it was time to break those chains and start afresh, so they put aside their twin paths to martyrdom and began to live with a new outlook on life.
The Venezuelan/Argentinian film "God's Slave" was filmed on location in Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Venezuela. It is available for purchase from North American distributor Film Movement.
