The Oath (2010)
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90% of critics liked it
(21 reviews) -
71% of users liked it
(300 ratings)
Two men who were part of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network look back on their past with strongly mixed feelings in this documentary from director Laura Poitras. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., made Osama bin Laden and his jihad against the West known to nearly… More Two men who were part of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network look back on their past with strongly mixed feelings in this documentary from director Laura Poitras. Before the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., made Osama bin Laden and his jihad against the West known to nearly every American, Abu Jandal was one of bin Laden's bodyguards, and he helped recruit Salim Hamdan, who served as bin Laden's personal driver. Jandal was able to escape prosecution and fled to Yemen, where he now makes a living driving a taxi. Jandal still regards America as a sworn enemy, but also views his days in Al-Qaeda with little nostalgia, and he anticipates no hopeful future before him. Jandal also feels deep regret over the fate of Hamdan, who ended up in the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay and was tried as a terrorist, despite his insistence he was bin Laden's chauffeur and nothing more. Hamdan's family and legal team struggle on his behalf without any illusions about his likely fate, and when Jandal speaks out to the press in his old friend's defense, Hamdan sends him a sharply worded letter asking him to stop. The Oath was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Laura Poitras
- Genres
- Documentary, Special Interest
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- May 7, 2010 Wide
- Studio
- Zeitgeist Films
Critic Reviews
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Jonathan F. Richards, Film.com
Poitras has opened up a fascinating window into the minds of the people who hate us, apparently not so much for our freedom as for our arrogance, our belief that we are the center of the universe.
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Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
The essential information in The Oath could have been boiled down to 30 minutes, but the good parts are indeed good.
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John Hartl, Seattle Times
The Oath makes spare use of images to convey a great deal. Al-Bahri's smiling child is surrounded by lethal weapons that are little more than toys to him. The color-drained skies of Guantánamo are juxtaposed with the lively Yemeni street scenes.
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Ty Burr, Boston Globe
A documentary that at its start purports to be the tale of two terrorists, the film keeps deepening and widening until it becomes a subtle, stubborn moral drama about users and the used.
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Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times
Just how deep inside Jandal's world Poitras goes is all the more striking given the inherent cultural barriers and danger she faced as a female filmmaker shooting a former Al Qaeda operative in Yemen.
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