From the subject
matter of Taj Mahal and his previous
film Espion(s), you can tell that
the French director Nicolas Saada is interested in terrorism. With everything
that is going on in the world, most notably the rise of religious
fundamentalism and public attacks, there is cause for concern. The réel of Taj Mahal are the 2008 Mumbai Attacks: amongst a coordinated attack
on the city by an Islamic militant organization the Taj Mahal hotel was invaded
by the Lashkar-e-Taiba group with rifles and explosives where they murdered and
took hostages before finally setting fire to the building. From this grave
historical event Saada focuses on the story of Louise (here played by the
excellent Stacy Martin), based on a real Parisian woman that lived through the
attack, to try to grasp how it must be to viscerally and emotionally live
through such an extreme situation. Louise is a young woman and is staying at
the hotel with her parents who are in India for work. One night when they go
out for dinner the hotel gets invaded and she’s trapped in there. Taj Mahal is both tragic and intense as
you follow Louise’s story: from hiding in her room, getting in contact with others
and finally escaping the burning building through a window. You’re never quite
sure about her fate, though you suspect that it won’t end well. Knowing Saada’s
a cinephile director you could see in Taj
Mahal shades of Hitchcock (Saboteur)
and contemporary Indian thrillers (there’s even a scene where Louise buys a
Mani Kaul film). But perhaps it’s Alain Renais’ Hiroshima, Mon Amour, which Louise watches right before the attack,
that best highlights Taj Mahal’s
project: an ode to the fallen of these disastrous events and to the courage and
anxiety of the survivors that live on.
Monday, July 10, 2017
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