Forbidden Lies Review

Brett>> Forbidden Lies is a movie by Anna Broinowski about Norma Khouri, and the two women are the commanding presences in it. Norma Khouri was revealed as a faker in 2004 for the writing of her book Forbidden Love (The book is no longer in print, pulled by the publishers when she was uncovered, but it is still possible to get it second hand, see link below).




The book put the issue of honour killings in Jordan on the map. This practice is where a man, or some men, from a family kill a female member of the family for having a relationship with a man that the family doesn't approve of. Norma Khouri’s book was about a young female friend of hers who had been stabbed to death by her father for a relationship with a Christian man. The movie is suspenseful and fascinating, the question of, `is there a real victim?´, `is it all lies?´ keeps you guessing till the end. Broinowski has left the film a little ambiguous about this point, even though in the DVD special features it becomes clear that she had made her mind up herself before even completing the filming. I think this was done for editorial purposes and to make the film more enjoyable, but it gave me the feeling that the film itself was faction and undeserving of the title `documentary´ (although I wouldn’t know what else to call it).
Babsi>> It was a very interesting film, because it also showed you a bit about the world of greedy publishers who keenly jumped on the book, because they could smell the big bucks, which the book then delivered. It was fascinating to also observe what kind of idea the west still has about Arabic countries. At the beginning the film showed the story of the woman in really glossy, almost cheesy colours with pretty people as a sort of dramatic soap opera. It already looks pretty strange and fake. Maybe this is how a lot of readers would imagine the book.
One funny example is e.g. that when Brett and I went to Tunisia we firmly believed that an oasis would consist of two palm trees and a pond. But then we saw one and it couldn't have been further away from the truth: it was huge with a lot of trees and water. It's just these weird ideas from maybe fairy tales or books that we have about these countries. It's also tricky, because books can intentionally or not incite hatred. I saw it happen when the book “Not without my daughter” came out in Germany. Hatred grows slowly and books can be totally used as propaganda to support it and explain political actions against countries.
One interesting fact of the film was also that these killings do happen in Jordan and that the Jordanian government tries to cover them up. They are trying to present a civilized Western front so they can get support from the United Nations. But on the other hand who is the West really to point fingers? This is what gets me: the Western countries are always quick to point fingers, in South Italy and Sicily women are pretty oppressed by their families as well, I have never actually heard of honour killings, but they do have a hard time. And Australia isn't exactly harmless when it comes to their own indigenous people. The situation of the indigenous people is dreadful and it is rarely talked about.
Brett>> The movie is thought provoking and not least because of the background of Khouri, she seems to have come from the wrong side of the tracks. I would give the movie three spirals. It isn't a classic of the genre like Fahrenheit 9/11 but it is interesting.