The Interpreter

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections

Imagine your parent, sibling, child, or spouse has been killed. It is a year later and the person responsible for his or her death has been bound and sent into the middle of lake to drown. If nothing is done, he will die. If you choose to swim out and save him, he will live. What will you do?

For United Nations interpreter Silvia Broome, this situation is not something she has to imagine; rather, the practice is custom in the African country where she grew up. More than just a tradition from Silvia’s past, however, this very dilemma becomes central to the movie The Interpreter.

The story begins when Silvia overhears an assassination threat against a foreign president scheduled to speak at the UN. Instead of just a threat against a well-known dignitary, however, the threat is against a dignitary accused of genocide. Even more than just a tragedy Silvia has heard about on the news, the deaths that surround President Zuwanie’s name are her countrymen, her neighbors, and her family.

As investigations into the threat begin, characters and audiences are asked the question of who would want Zuwanie dead and why? Opposing political leaders and their followers are placed on the top of the list. Their primary motivation—hunger for power. Just below them, however, the list of those who might want Zuwanie dead becomes endless. For every person suspected to have died at Zuwanie’s hand, one or more people could have reason to revenge that person’s death. For every news story run on the violence in Zuwanie’s country, one or more people might decide to take it upon themselves to personally bring justice to Zuwanie.

With more connections to people affected by Zuwanie’s regime than almost anyone else, Silvia soon becomes both a witness in need of protection and a suspect. Tobin Keller, a Secret Services Agent assigned to investigate the threat, wastes no time pretending that Silvia is just an innocent witness. Tobin asks her point blank if she would like to see Zuwanie dead. She replies that she would like to see him gone, not dead. He pressures her to tell him what she really thinks of Zuwania and in response she tells him about the drowning man ritual in her country.

Silvia tells Keller, “Everyone who loses someone wants revenge on someone, if no person, God.� Growing up with the drowning man ritual as part of life, however, she states with even more certainty, “The only way to end the grief is to save a life.� It is for this reason that she came to the UN, that she left guns behind, and that she chose to exercise words and compassion instead of violence. As the movie unfolds, however, tension and danger mount, more people die, and Silvia must ask herself if she truly believes that the end of grief is saving life instead of taking revenge.

Released amid worldwide debate concerning the war in Iraq, The Interpreter is a movie that can be seen as both entertainment and a political statement. Whatever side of the debate people stand on, however, the ideas brought forth in the movie make a statement that stretches far beyond political debates concerning war.

Behind Silvia’s statement that “the only way to end grief is to save a life� rests the choice between revenge and forgiveness. The choice touches more than just a response to international tragedy or murder. It reaches into the many ways both the larger world and our smaller lives can be filled with grief and anger.

For Keller, the death of his wife in a recent car accident is the root the grief and anger that burden his soul. For us, it could also be death. It could be any way that someone has hurt someone we love. It could be any wrong done against us. It could be any wrong done against humanity. It could even be our own failings and mistakes weighing us down so much that a path to death seems to be the only possible answer.

In a world full of grief, where we all possess it and all cause it, we all have reason to be angry as well as reason to be punished. At the same time, however, we all have the choice to forgive and be forgiven.

God demonstrated the power of that choice when gave the life of His son for our forgiveness long ago. He continues to demonstrate its power as He offers us forgiveness every day. The question is, will we choose to accept that forgiveness and share it with others? Even if it is the harder choice, will we choose the path that grants freedom to both ourselves and others? Even if it is not always our instinct, will we choose to believe that even the smallest act of love and forgiveness can make a bigger difference than any possible act of revenge?

—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections