Two Men. Bound to Al-Qaeda. Divided by Fate.
This is the tagline that is used for this documentary about two men that both had ties to Al-Qaeda. Salim Hamdan has been locked up in Guantanomo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan. He was Osama Bin Laden’s driver. The other man is Abu Jandal, who was Bin Laden’s bodyguard. The latter one is now a taxi driver in Yemen.
The documentary makers have had many conversations with Abu Jandal and followed him. This allows the viewer to get a small look into his life. You’ll see that his son already is hearing information about weapons (he shows a picture in which the boy was a baby, where he was surrounded by two hand grenades and an AK-47). During the documentary I got the feeling that when the cameras were rolling he was telling the things that people want to hear, but when they are off I think he might be up to something else. The thing that stood out for me was a moment where he was talking with some young men and one was talking about a password that the documentary makers didn’t know about.
De film also tries to give the viewer an idea of what Salim Hamdan goes through at Guantanomo Bay. His lawyer gives his view on the situation and also travels to Yemen to answer the questions his family has.
This documentary sounds a lot more interesting than it actually was, but despite this gives a small look into the lives of people involved with Al-Qaeda.
Score: 7