- published: 08 Jan 2008
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The Kingdom is a 2007 film directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhom, with Kyle Chandler, Jeremy Piven, Richard Jenkins and Ali Suliman.
The film is fictional, but inspired by bombings at the Riyadh compound on May 12, 2003 and the Khobar housing complex on June 26, 1996, in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The story follows a team of FBI agents who investigate the bombing of a foreign-workers facility in Saudi Arabia. Screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan has summarised the plot as "What would a murder investigation look like on Mars?”
The film was screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival as its yearly 'Surprise Movie' on 22 August 2007.
The opening scene of the movie explains the origins of U.S.-Saudi diplomatic relations and how the discovery of energy resources has transformed the Middle East through a timeline sequence. It portrays the conflicts that have risen since the late 1940s for the rightful ownership of the oil industry. This includes the Persian Gulf War in Iraq and al-Qaeda's growing network of terrorism. Eventually, it explains the 9/11 terrorist attacks and how the majority of the hijackers were Saudis. This raises serious questions on the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States. The plot begins with the current struggle of Saudi Arabia and the kingdom's efforts to stand control of their country against terrorist extremists.
After a terrorist attack on an American housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where families and FBI Agent Francis Manner are murdered, FBI agent Ronald Fleury blackmails the South Arabian consul to get five days of investigation in the location. He travels with agent Grant Sykes, Janet Mayes and Adam Leavitt to revenge their friend and try to find those responsible for the bombing. The agents find all sorts of difficulties in their investigation, but they are supported by Colonel Faris Al Ghazi that advises the team how to act in a hostile environment.
Keywords: al-qaeda, ambassador, ambush, apartment-building, arab, archive-footage, assault-rifle, attempted-coverup, attempted-murder, basketball
Damon Schmidt: [to Janet Mayes while preparing her to meet the Saudi Prince] Can we dial down the boobies?
[before breaking open a door in terrorist apartment]::Ronald Fleury: Which side do you think Allah's on?::Colonel Faris Al Ghazi: We are about to find out!
Ronald Fleury: [refering to the Six Million Dollar Man] That's my shit.::Colonel Faris Al Ghazi: [confused] You need bathroom?
Adam Leavitt: It's LEH-vitt, not Le' Vesque. I'm not a goddamn French-Canadian.
[last lines]::Adam Leavitt: Fleury. Tell me what you whispered to Janet, in the briefing, to get her to stop crying about Fran, you know, before all this, before we even got airborne. What'd you say to her?::Aunt: Tell me, what did your grandfather whisper in your ear before he died?::Adam Leavitt: You remember?::Ronald Fleury: I told her we were gonna kill 'em all.::15-Year-Old Grandson: Don't fear them, my child. We are going to kill them all.
Attorney General Gideon Young: I'm gonna bury you.::FBI Director James Grace: You know, Westmoreland made all of us officers write our own obituaries during Tet, when we thought The Cong were gonna end it all right there. And, once we clued into the fact that life is finite, the thought of losing it didn't scare us anymore. The end comes no matter what, the only thing that matters is how do you wanna go out, on your feet or on your knees? I bring that lesson to this job. I act, knowing that someday this job will end, no matter what. You should do the same.
Adam Leavitt: Need a little check? Huh? Ah, you big queer!
Ronald Fleury: Does he know where Bin Laden is? That would be a huge promotion for me.
[first lines]::Narrator #1: After capturing most of the Arabian Peninsula with the help of the Wahhabi Islamic warriors, Ibn Saud establishes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Range Rover Driver: How are you today, sergeant?::Sergeant Haytham: Sun is shining. Wind is blowing. How bad can I be doing?
In this world that we live in
So filled with blind indifference
We have a chance to change it (change it)
We have a chance to make it right
Is this a generation of selfish contaminating love
We have a chance to change it (change it)
We have a chance to make this right
Where's the love & unity
This is my testimony
We are brothers & sisters
Regardless of what you believe
We pave the way for our children & the rest of humanity
How can we in our consciousness avert our minds
From the suffering of human life that's helpless
Loveless
Hopeless
Fed by our apathy, it's fed by our apathy
Our life is wasted
So lost & complacent
Inside our minds
Inside your life, your life, your life
Wage war upon the heartless with strength of love
This is my testimony
Give back to those who have given to you
This is my testimony
Our life is wasted
So lost & complacent
Inside (inside) our minds
Inside (inside) your life (your life)
I still believe in hope for our tomorrow
And I still believe in the strength & in the power of love
Your life
Our life
Is my life
This is my testimony