Unthinkable 战略特勤组

Unthinkable is an American suspense thriller directed by Gregor Jordan and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was released direct-to-video on June 14, 2010


Plot

The film begins with an American Muslim man named Yusuf (Sheen), formerly named Younger, making a videotape.[3] When FBI Special Agent Helen Brody (Moss) and her team see news bulletins looking for Yusuf, they launch an investigation, which is curtailed when they are summoned to a high school, which has been converted into a black site under military command. They are shown Yusuf's complete tape, where he threatens to detonate three nuclear bombs in separate U.S. cities if his demands are not met.
A special interrogator, "H" (Samuel L. Jackson), is brought in to force Yusuf to reveal the locations of the nuclear bombs. H quickly shows his capability and cruelty by chopping off one of Yusuf's fingers with a small hatchet. Horrified, Special Agent Brody attempts to put a stop to the measures. Her superiors make it clear that the potentially disastrous consequences necessitate these extreme measures. As the plot unfolds, H escalates his methods (with Brody as the "good cop") and Yusuf, trained in resisting torture, maintains his silence. Brody realizes that he allowed himself to be caught and that he is purposely enduring the torture.
When Brody accuses Yusuf of faking the bomb threat in order to make a point about the moral character of the United States government, he breaks down and agrees that it was all a ruse. He gives her an address to prove it, but visiting the address triggers a C-4 explosion at a nearby shopping mall, killing 53 people. Angry at the senseless deaths, Brody takes a scalpel and begins cutting Yusuf's chest. It is clear, though, that Yusuf is not afraid. He justifies the deaths by comparing them to the greater number of Muslim deaths by American hands. Yusuf then makes his demands: he would like the President of the United States to announce a cessation of support for "puppet governments" and dictatorships in Muslim countries and a withdrawal of American troops from all Muslim countries. The group immediately dismisses the possibility of his demands being met, citing the United States' declared policy of not negotiating with terrorists.
H falters in his belief that the bombs' location will be revealed until Yusuf's wife is found and detained. He brings her in front of her husband and threatens to mutilate her in front of him. Brody and the others begin to take her away from the room in disgust. Out of desperation, H slashes her throat and she bleeds to death in front of Yusuf. Still without cooperation, H tells the soldiers to bring in Yusuf's two children, a young boy and a girl. Outside of Yusuf's hearing, he assures everyone that he will not harm the children. Yusef's children are brought in and H makes it clear that he will torture them if the locations of the bombs are not divulged. Yusuf breaks and gives three addresses (in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas), but H does not stop, forcing the others to intervene. Citing the amount of missing nuclear material Yusuf potentially had at his disposal (some 15-18lbs were reported missing, with about 4-1/2lbs needed per device), H insists that Yusuf has not admitted anything about a hence-unreferenced fourth bomb. H points out that everything Yusuf has done so far has been planned meticulously. He knew the torture would most likely break him, and he would have been certain to plant a fourth bomb, just in case.
Here it becomes clear that the purpose of the preceding torture was not to break Yusuf, but rather to make it clear to him what would happen to his children if he did not cooperate.
The official in charge of the operation demands that H bring Yusuf's children back in for further interrogation. H demands that Brody bring the children back in, because her decency will give him the moral approval that he needs to do the "unthinkable". When Brody refuses to retrieve the children for H, he unstraps Yusuf, sarcastically setting him free. The official draws his pistol and aims it at H to coerce him into further interrogation. Yusuf grabs the official's gun. He asks Brody to take care of his children and kills himself. Brody walks out of the building with Yusuf's children. (This is the end of the original Direct-to-DVD version.)
Extended Version: An FBI bomb disposal team arrives at one of the disclosed locations and resets the timer to prevent the bomb from going off. As the FBI are celebrating however, behind a nearby crate, the originally unconfirmed fourth bomb's timer counts down to zero. The screen immediately cuts to black and the credits roll.



Reception

Policy adviser Charles V. Peña opines that "Ultimately, [Unthinkable] is about the age-old question, "Do the ends justify the means?"... In the end, Unthinkable doesn’t answer the question... but does provide plenty of food for thought" [4] Film reviewer Matthew Alford argues that "the aesthetic realism and apparent seriousness of Unthinkable is a mask for the absurdity of its content and reactionary politics" making it more than just a "nightmare scenario" but rather "a white paper from Freddy Krueger" [5]. A similar point is raised by DVD columnist Sean Axmaker who calls the film "a clumsy polemic that bounces between the boundaries of stage-play debate and torture porn spectacle" [6].


Cast

Samuel L. Jackson - Henry Harold Humphries aka 'H', a black-ops agent assigned to interrogate Yusuf.[3]
Michael Sheen - Yusuf Atta Mohammed / Steven Arthur Younger, an American Muslim who has planted nuclear bombs in three U.S. cities.[3]
Carrie-Anne Moss - Agent Helen Brody, the leader of an FBI counter-terrorism team assigned to interrogate Yusuf[3]
Brandon Routh - Agent DJ Jackson, a member of the FBI team[3]
Benito Martinez - Alvarez, assistant of 'H'
Gil Bellows - Agent Vincent, a member of the FBI team[3]
Joshua Harto - Agent Phillips[3]
Martin Donovan - Jack Saunders, FBI director who assigns the interrogation[3]
Stephen Root - Charles Thomson
Necar Zadegan - Jehan Younger, Yusuf's wife
Michael Rose - Colonel Kerkmejian
Holmes Osborne - General Paulson, the General leading the interrogation





译　名　战略特勤组/不可思议

片　名　Unthinkable
　　年　代　2010
　　国　家　美国
　　类　别　剧情/惊悚
　　语　言　英语
　　片　长　97 Mins
　　上映日期
　　美国 USA 2009年11月5日
　　英国 UK 2010年6月14日
　　荷兰 Netherlands 2010年6月17日
　　俄罗斯 Russia 2010年7月29日
　　导　演　格雷格·乔丹 Gregor Jordan
　　主　演　塞缪尔·杰克逊 Samuel L. Jackson
　　凯莉·安妮·莫斯 Carrie-Anne Moss
　　麦克·辛 Michael Sheen
　　吉尔·贝罗斯 Gil Bellows ....Vincent
　　斯蒂芬·鲁特 Stephen Root ....Charlie
　　布兰登·罗斯 Brandon Routh
　　Sasha Roiz ....Lubitchich
　　Necar Zadegan ....Jehan Younger
　　马丁·唐文 Martin Donovan ....Jack Saunders
　　Joshua Harto ....Agent Phillips
　　Holmes Osborne ....General Paulson
　　雅拉·莎希迪 Yara Shahidi ....Katie
　　Benito Martinez ....Alvarez
　　Vincent Laresca ....Agent Leandro
　　Geoff Meed ....Young Sergeant
　　Kirk B.R. Woller ....Observer
　　Dayo Ade ....Winston
　　Chris McGarry ....Major Pierce
　　Jillian Bruno ....Samura


剧情简介

　　联邦调查局探员布洛迪率领反恐特别行动小组，对在美国战略特勤组剧照(13张)三个城市隐匿核武器的穆斯林人进行调查，结果却发现在核武器的背后隐藏着远比恐怖破坏活动更可怕的阴谋。前美国陆战队员杨格精通核武，并制作了三枚炸弹，藏匿在三个城市，故意被警方抓捕后，开始与军方刑讯人员较量，在酷刑下说出一个地点，但军方赶到现场时却不小心引爆一颗商场普通炸弹.这时杨格的妻子儿女被找到，在看到妻子被杀，和儿女将要被虐待时，杨格说出三个地址后自杀！但是没想到还有第四颗......
评论
　　不像很多片子想告诉你一个看法，整部片子更像是一个问题。尤其是最后的炸弹倒计时，与其说是导演想说谁输谁赢，更像是表示导演自己的迷惑，究竟怎么做才是更正确的。赞叹这种反思精神。不管对具体的细节是褒是贬，导演的目的已经达到了，更多的人正在思考这部影片。
　　影片里充满了尖锐的矛盾冲突，而且大多数都是在道德准则上的。萨缪演得很不错，把自身的信仰和迷惑演得很到位。即使像他这样坚信自己的方法是正确的人，在最后的手段面前依然无法通过自己的道德底线，依然需要在责任和仇恨下还残留些正直的女主角告诉他什么是应该做的。在这种可以算是终极选择的面前，人类对道德的选择的矛盾展示的更加强烈。
　　然而不管怎样，在这个二元世界里，对与错永远都是相对的，基于立场的。即使导演再怎么样的想思考，恐怕也得不到想要的那个唯一的答案。对恐怖分子是否可以刑讯逼供？如果可以的话，能做到哪一步？能否通过伤害用恐怖分子的亲人来逼供？如果可以的话，能够做到哪一步？
　　哈佛法学教授迈克尔.桑德尔的公开课《公正：该如何做是好？》，第一节就提出一个问题“刹车失灵的火车在轨道上眼看就要撞死5个工人，另外一个轨道上有一个人。作为火车司机的你，会不会把火车扳到只有一个人的铁轨上？ ” 如果你认为应该“杀一个，救五个”，那么你也许会认为本片有些无聊，一群FBI、军人国难当头却在那里唧唧歪歪，浪费时间，最终酿成大错。没有枪战、没有追车、没有美女也没有英雄，这是什么鸟电影？如果你不同意“杀一个，救五个”，那么你的理由是什么？如果火车轨道上不是5个人，而是50个，500个，甚至5000个呢？你还认为不能“杀一个（无辜），救五千人”么？你的价值观中到底会不会变化，为什么？迈克尔.桑德尔在课堂上以翩翩迷人的学者风采鼓励大家讨论这个问题。