Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12606 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-11-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 235 minutes

DVD Description

Britz is a gritty and unflinching two-part contemporary thriller from award-winning writer and director, Peter Kosminsky ("The Government Inspector"). Riz Ahmed ("The Road to Guantanamo") and Manjinder Virk ("Bradford Riots") star in the film as brother and sister Sohail and Nasim--two young, British-born Muslims who are pulled in radically different directions by their conflicting personal experiences in post 9/11 Britain.

Sohail is an ambitious law undergraduate who, eager to play a part in protecting British security, signs up with MI5. When he begins an investigation into a supposed terrorist cell the enquiry soon leads him back to his own community in Bradford, where none of the locals--not even his closest friends--are above suspicion. Unsure if he is being used by the establishment, Sohail is forced to question where his loyalties really lie: with his family and friends or with the country of his birth, Britain. His sister Nasima, a medical student in Leeds, becomes increasingly angered by Britain's foreign and domestic policy after witnessing at first hand the relentless targeting of her Muslim neighbours and peers. When her best friend falls foul of the Government's anti-terror legislation, Nasima begins to feel even more alienated and is forced to confront her liberal views. Disillusioned by the political process, she embarks on a dangerous path that finally leads her to a terrorist training camp in North West Pakistan.

With action set in Pakistan, Eastern Europe, London and Leeds, Britz reveals a tragic sequence of events from the two very different perspectives of these young siblings. Both feature-length episodes collide in a gripping finale, which ultimately asks us to question whether the laws we think are making us safer are actually putting us in greater danger.

Synopsis

From award-winning writer and director Peter Kosminsky comes the politically charged thriller/drama Britz. The film explores Muslim life in Britain through the eyes of a brother and sister on opposite sides of the same coin: Sohail wants nothing more than to fit in with British society, while his sister Nasima finds herself increasingly alienated and victimised by the Government. Sohail's eagerness to assimilate sees him recruited by MI5 to investigate his family and friends--putting the siblings on a head-on collision course. The film's very topical and controversial subject matter is sure to spark some heated debate over Britain's anti-terror laws and 'Islamophobia'.

Customer Reviews

the price of liberty and respect.
Powerful drama which plays out stark differences in perceptions, beliefs and opinions in the British Muslim population under terrorism legislation. The two part film bravely exposes the inner and outer struggles of its main protagonists played by Riz Ahmed (Sohail) and his sister (Nasima) enacted by Manjinder Virk. It's main action stages are in Pakistan, Eastern Europe, London and Leeds.

The siblings are torn into two different directions with their self-understanding or self-definitions in the climate of current day Britain, with tragic circumstances. Director Peter Kosminsky manages to keep taut attention and edge of the seat moments.

A brave and exciting two part series. Intelligent, moving and thought-provoking: often what we try to protect by tighter laws is exactly that which we erode and destroy - means are also always action. The question remains open: are the means we choose justified or could there have been a better choice made...?

Essential watching
The tale of two Muslim siblings, both pulled in different directions. Sohail, proud to be British, joins MI5 and is forced to spy on his own community. His sister, Nasima, driven to despise the British government after her best friend commits suicide, embraces radicallism and heads to Pakistan to train as a suicide bomber.

This certainly does not make for easy viewing, but it does possibly show the alienation and racism many young muslims experience. That said, at no time are you ever made to feel that Nasima's actions are justified. The very minor flaw to this drama is that one doubts if Nasima would really have turned to radicalism or, would instead, have used more traditional routes to protest, having gained some indication of her personality.

That said, this is essential viewing and particularly relevant for these troubled times we live in. It certainly demonstrates that there is no quick fix solution to conflict between extremists and the west.

Just brilliant

Brave and honest
When this was shown on TV I watched it 3 times within 2 weeks. Above all, it shows how there are 2 sides to this (and to most) situation. It is true to say that whether someone is a terrorist or a freedom fighter is a matter of opinion. clearly the drama does not in anyway justify, or even attempt to justify violence. However, it explores the issues involved with such brave honesty that it does reveal how people can be drawn into violent behaviour, even when their starting position is one of good, ethical and moral motivation.

In real life we need to stop demonising groups of people. To demonise people makes them separate from us. And we will never make a peaceful world by causing factions.

Finally, I think it is probably true that Nasima turned quite quickly from 'good guy' to 'terrorist'. But I found this forgivable because it is a drama, so perhaps we need to allow a few shortcuts as dramatic licence.