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Monday, December 9, 2019

Hotel Mumbai (2018)

This is a film based on real events that took place in Mumbai in November of 2008.  There was a coordinated attack across the city which left 164 people dead, along with most of the Pakistani terrorists themselves, but not the instigator, of course.
We go between the fictional staff and and hotel guests and the terrorists themselves.  The movie emphasizes the complex humanity of the characters. In that, we are not just watching a jingoistic, thinly sketched battle between the good and the bad. There are shades of nuance in the good here and an abusive hierarchy within the evil, to help viewers to understand the chilling indestructibly of terror networks and the terrorist mindset. The ones that murder dozens at random in the hotel are a group of merciless yet disposable men; brainwashed, radicalized, and sent to carry out massacres by  those who coldly give commands at the other end of a phone line.
The story comes to an end with some acts of bravery and a bit of luck.  In truth half those killed were hotel staff who were helping guests, and the end fetails what happened after the events depicted.  Surprisingly good, but not for the feint of heart. 

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