Some questions


Several things about this movie puzzled us... anybody have any answers?

1. Near the beginning, we see a blindfolded man. Who is he, and how does he fit into the story?

2. At the end, who is the man (wearing an outfit like pajamas) who is racing around on a motorbike? And why is everybody chasing everybody else in that final scene? It wasn't clear what was going on here.

3. How does the young herder boy get 40 cows for the blood money? We weren't sure if he had rustled them (and would probably have to give them back), or if this was just his imagination.

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I believe the blindfolded man at the beginning was a Western hostage. The scene showed a transfer of the hostage. I believe the purpose of the scene was to show that the jihadists, even in the midst of a hostage transfer, were being careful about the man's medication regimen. I believe that scene, along with other scenes, was designed to "humanize" the jihadists. The movie portrayed the jihadists as misguided in their interpretation of Islam and capable of cruel and unjust acts, but not necessarily inherently evil people.

I share your other two questions. The end of the movie was confusing in terms of who brought the wife to her husband.

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The man of the motorcycle is not only seen at the end, we see him several times during the movie. He's the one who brings water to the family in the desert and also to the fisherman. He's the one who brings the wife to her husband at the end. I don't know, I saw him like somebody who tied the various characters of the movie, jihadists and not, the fisherman and the man who killed him.

The boy doesn't bring 40 cows, he dreams of bringing them because he feels responsible for what happened and he knows that the cows would save the man.

As to the blindfolded man, if I'm not wrong he's the one we find later translating for the man accused, I'm not sure he was a prisoner.

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Thanks. One more question. Are the couple who are stoned shown earlier in the film? Do we know who they are? There is a scene (just before the stoning) where a young woman is caught using her cell phone. She is apparently talking to a man and claims that she is talking to her brother but she is disbelieved by the jihadists. I could not tell if she is the same woman who is stoned but I did not think so.

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I agree with all 3 of your answers. I thought the translator might be the same man as the one blindfolded, but he wasn't wearing glasses when he translated

The motorcycle mystery man seemed to be the only person in the story who had complete freedom...to sell the most important product in that country and have fun delivering it! And he could wear colorful clothes and sunglasses and make fast getaways, without getting caught up with any of the "drama".

I had the feeling about 2/3's through of the movie in that he might have been a kind of spy for the people who wanted to fight against the occupiers. I think it was when the two guys with guns took a special look at him and the camera lingered on this shot awhile.

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I did not understand anything in the last 5 minutes; sin, would have been an interesting movie and realistic.

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Also, please tell me why the wife was shot.
And what is the point of the movie---the man is being executed for murder, which is a crime in any country, so why are we supposed to feel bad about that? Wouldn't it be better to have him executed for what we would consider some more trivial "crime" so we could feel outraged?

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