Review of Day Night Day Night (2006) by J K — 17 Sep 2007

Interesting film whose missingness -- err, the overwhelming sense of something missing that pervades the film -- somehow makes it more interesting. I was worried that it would simply be "suicide bombers are people, too" -- a message that sadly would probably actually still be shocking to many people -- but while this does spend much screen time dwelling on everyday activities -- brushing teeth, bathing, dressing, eating -- and it even lets her repeatedly fumble with such things, playing on stereotypes of uncivilized terrorists being unfamiliar with American luxuries to humanize the bomber, but there is also an unexpected but appreciated vacuity to all of them. Why brush your teeth when you're going to kill yourself later that day? is the obvious question, and the film doesn't attempt to provide an answer, counting on us to wonder even as we accept that this would indeed be the case. I don't mean to suggest that "she" (as the main character is referred to) is different from us (quite the contrary) but that she must be missing something great in order to be willing to do this -- she's committed because of a desperate need for . . . what? Purpose? Meaning? Reunion with dead loved ones? We don't know And the conclusion, seen from this perspective, is beautiful and fitting -- there are no answers, for her or for us.

(There's also an interesting gender play going on, with the completely compliant female bomber, always polite, obeying without questioning the orders of her all-male faceless (they always wear ski-masks) superiors. The only other woman with the terrorists is an assistant and translator to the deaf bomb-maker.).