Tribute to real-life heroes

James Wigney

simple acts of bravery amid the terror without resorting to superhuman action sequences.

“It was a responsibility we felt all the time and it was a long time since I had felt that, but I felt that on this film too,” he says.

While the white-knuckle ride of Hotel Mumbai doesn’t shy away from the brutal reality of those murdered in cold blood in the name of religion, both Maras and Isaacs believe that it’s ultimately a hopeful and optimistic film about the innate goodness of human beings and how they can come together and show their best when things are at their worst.

“I don’t know what the situation is in Australia, but certainly across Europe and the UK and America hatred and divisiveness is everywhere and we are all being told that we are nothing like each other and there is so much that separates us and every tribal group should hate everyone else,” Isaacs says.

“But actually in this real-life situation — and not in some Hollywood concoction, when the chips were down and the very worst things that could ever happen to a human being were happening — people stood together and supported each other across impossible divides: racial, religious, economic.

“If you believe the nonsense we are told about how selfish and venal we all are and it’s all about survival of the fittest, it’s hard to credit what happened over those extraordinary three days.”

is now showing at the State Cinema and Village Cinemas.

Our regular movie reviewer Tim Martain is off this week.