Who's in It: Jacques Vergès, Bachir Boumaâza, Yacef Saadi, Sine, Hans-Joachim Klein, Klaus Barbie, Magdalena Kopp
The Basics: The events of September 11, 2001, didn't just spring out of thin air. They were the product of decades of political oppressions and revolutions and the rise of international terrorism. And through it all, from the Battle of Algiers forward, one man has made a career out of legally representing the planters of bombs worldwide: Jacques Vergès. This densely-packed, exhausting, infuriating documentary tells his story.
What's the Deal? Vergès is the kind of slippery character who can tell you about his friendship with Pol Pot or about how he defended Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie and do it all with a smirk on his face. Meanwhile, the distant, non-judgmental camera of director Barbet Schroeder hangs on every subject's every word, including the jocular confessions of Yacef Saadi, who talks about how for a while he stopped bombing things because people were being maimed, losing limbs. The death didn't bother him ("we all must die sometime"), merely the unattractive injuries.
Why You Should See It: It's the history they didn't teach you in school. Seriously, how much in-depth discussion of leftist European political thought and bloodless discussion of terrorism were you raised on? None, right? This is pretty vital stuff.
Which On-Camera Subjects You'll Want to Punch in the Face: All of them. But then, that would only justify their assertion that violent revolution is justified, and there are no such things as "innocent" victims and on and on. Better just to be overwhelmed by it all and seethe for a bit. Then go rent The Battle of Algiers if you've never seen that before.
Most Unintentionally Funny Bit: Vergès shows off a sweater knit for him by Magdalena Kopp, former wife of Carlos the Jackal.