The message of this slow-paced and philosophical film,
directed by Oday Rasheed and set in post–Mission
Accomplished Baghdad, is simple and profound: War does not produce heroes; it produces serial killers. In Qarantina, the serial killer—a thirtysomething man who initially murdered people for political reasons but now murders people for no reason—rents a room from a vulnerable family. He bullies the impotent husband, fucks the love-starved wife, and mocks their son’s attempts to return to school and a normal boyhood. There is no joy in this home, or the city, whose bullet-ridden streets are patrolled by American tanks. Indeed, this is a great place for serial killers. (SIFF Cinema, 321 Mercer St, thestranger.com/siff, 9:30 pm, $11)
Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory... More by Charles Mudede
Eww.
Why not see far better movies like the knockout Detective Dee and The Mystery of the Phantom Flame or Burke and Hare – both 9:30 at Egyptian and Neptune respectively?