Jihadists

Co-directors Lemine Ould M. Salem and François Margolin’s documentary goes into the belly of the beast in the modern radical Islamic state, filming in Mali, Tunisia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, where viewers see and hear directly from tedious, armed fanatics enforcing Shariah law, fighting under the flag of ISIS, or carrying out acts of terrorism in Western cities. The initial shock of this footage—shot professionally as a series of glossy interviews interspersed with grainy film of stonings (of adulterers), hand amputations (of thieves), floggings (of anyone, for any reason), and random executions—quickly overwhelms. And this is not only because we’re witnessing a murderous pathology disguised as a noble religion, but also because the titular jihadists we meet are largely young and full of themselves. The cameras capture a lot of blather about why it’s necessary to tear bodies apart because someone got caught drinking an ounce of beer, or a guy and girl had a secret rendezvous. But also heard are familiar rationales for the destruction of the World Trade Center and the Charlie Hebdo killings in Paris, and the film revisits an ISIS video of American journalist James Foley on his knees shortly before he was beheaded. A deeply disturbing documentary (banned in France), Jihadists presents a close-up portrait of one of the world’s greatest menaces. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)