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Review: 24 Days (2015)

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Mark R. Leeper

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Apr 17, 2015, 2:59:56 PM4/17/15
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24 DAYS (24 JOURS: LA VERITE SUR L'AFFAIRE ILAN HALIMI)
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

Warning: For those not already familiar with the Halimi Affair,
there will be spoilers in this review.

CAPSULE: This is a docudrama about the kidnapping of
Parisian Jew Ilan Halimi, who in January, 2006 was
kidnapped, tortured, and murdered largely because he
was Jewish. The film follows the Halimi family, the
police, and the criminals, all the time sticking
fairly accurately to what is known about the case.
The Halimi family and the police race to find and save
the hostage. The film looks at many connected issues
including immigration policies, anti-Semitism, class,
and police competency and prejudice. Not all the
issues are fully discussed, nor would we expect them
to be in a single film, but the viewer is aware of
them. 24 DAYS is directed and co-written by Alexandre
Arcady, perhaps in the United States best known for the
horror thriller HIGH TENSION. Also writing the script
were Emilie Freche and Antoine Lacomblez. Rating:
low +3 (-4 to +4) or 8/10

The French Government has tried over the previous century to
support a policy of ethnic tolerance and inclusiveness.
Unfortunately, that system has the drawback that there are
intercultural hatreds that they are only exacerbating by inviting
in immigrants trained in hatred. France has had a large influx of
Anti-Jewish Muslims into their population and at the same time a
great increase in domestic anti-Semitism. Ilan Halimi was a young
Jew who worked in a Paris cell phone store. He was 23 years old
when he was targeted, kidnapped, and taken to Bagneux, a commune in
the suburbs of Paris. There his treatment was shockingly barbaric.
24 DAYS is a docudrama of the incident as seen from many sides.

On January 20, 2006, Ilan Halimi had Sabbath dinner with his family
and then went out for a late-night date with an attractive woman he
had met while he worked in a cell phone store. She was the bait.
He was set upon by a gang of thugs and taken to an apartment in the
Bagneux section of Paris. There he was trussed in duct tape and
viciously tortured. For three weeks he was tortured and starved,
held in barbaric conditions. Meanwhile the kidnappers demanded a
ransom that Ilan's parents could not pay. A staccato of phone
calls from the kidnappers to the Halimi family made unrealistic and
inconsistent demands.

The extent of Ilan's condition is described as "horrific." Still,
it must have been considerably but understandably toned down for
the camera. The real Ilan Halimi was burned over 80 per cent of
his body. And after the first week his captors never even fed him.
His condition probably could not be accurately depicted for the
camera.

Central to the story is Ilan's mother Ruth Halimi (played by Zabou
Breitman) who wrote the book on which the film script was based.
We see the story through her eyes. She is speaking directly to the
viewer in the first and last scenes of the film. Other people are
filmed with a more literal camera. But the camera frequently
focuses in on her and the action slows to dwell on her emotion.
That way the story's treatment becomes very personal to her.
Otherwise the story moves fast because there is a lot of detail of
the story to cover. It documents tensions in the family, between
the family and the police, and within the police. Supporting her
character is Pascal Elbe who plays Ilan's estranged father.
Jacques Gamblin plays Police Commander Delcour who is handling the
case. Tony Harrisson plays the formidable Youssouf Fofana who
leads the kidnappers and who cannot settle on a single ransom
amount.

We see the police investigation including some smart moves and some
obvious errors. There is, for example, controversy over whether
the crime can be classified as being anti-Semitic or not. Arcady
manages to put into this 108-minute film a lot of action but the
issues he manages to make very personal. I rate 24 DAYS a low +3
on the -4 to +4 scale or 08/10.

Film Credits:
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3600588/combined>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/24_days/?search=24%20days>


Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 2015 Mark R. Leeper

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