Cinemaxx pulls Wolves
I mentioned last week that Conservatives in Germany are calling for Turkish film, Valley of the Wolves - Iraq to be banned.
On Wednesday, Germany’s Cinemaxx chain responded by announcing that it would strike the film from its program immediately.
The film starts off by retelling an actual event that happened in Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq, in July 2003; American forces arrested and held in captivity 11 Turkish soldiers, who were later released. The film then quickly turns to its fictional action hero, Turkish intelligence officer Polat Alemdar. He sets out to avenge his humiliated countrymen. In the process, American troops massacre civilians at a wedding party, firebomb a mosque during evening prayer and carry out summary executions — not to mention the abuses depicted at the Abu Ghraib prison. But perhaps the film’s most evil villain is the American Jewish military doctor (played by Gary Busey), who extracts Iraqi prisoners’ organs to sell to rich buyers in New York, London and Tel Aviv.
Given that the film has been running for two weeks in Germany and that it is more violent than an average action film, it’s unlikely that it can be banned. But some German politicians and Jewish leaders are calling on cinemas to stop running it.
Michael Kohlstruck, doctor of political science at Berlin’s Technical University and a specialist in right-wing extremism and youth violence acknowledges that the film has a divisive and harmful message, but observes: “It’s not right for a liberal society to forbid these films. It’s better to leave them open and to discuss them.”
(via Cinematical)
Sunday 26 Feb 2006 | Paul | Germany
