I have been waiting to see The Kingdom - Partly because I lived in Dubai for a long time and mostly because I was very curious to see how they would portray the tension between the Americans and the Saudis and the cultural differences and post 9/11 animosity. I was, in any event, prepared for a pretty one-sided picture i.e. the Saudis being the bad guys and the Americans being the good guys.
Boy! was I in for a pleasant surprise! The movie not only turned out to be pretty factual, but was also refreshingly different in that it showed the Saudi side of the story as well. It din't paint a single character in black or white - just shades of grey. It raises deep ethical questions about revenge, patriotism and most importantly, how we find ourselves in a vicious circle of hate - For every one of their own killed, Americans want to kill ten Saudis and for every Saudi killed, Saudis want to kill ten Americans...where does it end?
The film is based on the 2003 bombing of a Western housing compound in Riyadh and follows the journey of an FBI team that wrestles their way into Saudi to find the perpetrators. From the language to the setting (most of the movie was shot in Phoenix, Arizona and not Saudi), this is a very well made film - realistic and thought provoking..
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