The Death Merchants (1973)

From back cover, "A powerful terrorist group is on the hunt for an enemy agent, but blind fury leads to a case of mistaken identity. Their relentless pursuit of the wrong man results in a bloddy trail of murder, betrayal and shattered dreams, and it seems first nothing can convince them to stop." Product Description

A tragic tale of love, mistaken identity, & terrorism

Another unexpectantly great find while digging for treasure at my local Walmart's $1 dvd bargain bin, "The Death Merchants" was a very entertaining movie. The acting was much better than expected, and the music was mostly wonderful. Despite the dvd cover art, Jason Robards is not the star of the film, although he is one of the central characters. Beautifully filmed on location in West Germany (this movie was filmed in 1973 at the height of the Cold War) and Israel, it has some great cinematography and stunning scenery. The main theme of the movie is the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the movie's message is clearly anti-war.

Arthur Hersfeld (Hardy Krüger) is a German Jew who practices law and makes frequent business trips around the world. It is on one of these trips that he is spotted at an airport by Arab terrorists who mistake him for an Israeli secret agent named Herzog. What the Arab terrorists don't know is that there really is no Herzog, he is an imaginary agent created by the Israelis to trick the Arab terrorists. Arthur knows nothing of this either of course and when he meets the attractive Amina (Gila Almagor) he falls for her, not knowing that she is an Arab terrorist that's been sent to spy on him.

They meet again and again, and the more they see each other the more Amina's convinced that Arthur isn't the agent Herzog. Over time they fall in love, and Amina temporarily forgets all about her mission. Arthur finally learns of Amina's terrorist activities, but he still can't help his feelings for her. Inspector Barkan (Jason Robards) of the Israeli police tries to warn Arthur about how dangerous Amina and her comrades are, but Amina means everything to him. The Arab terrorist organization isn't so sure that Arthur isn't Herzog, and they eventually give Amina the order to kill him. She is then faced with choosing loyalty to the organization or loyalty to her heart.

This is one of those movies that left me speechless after the ending. To tell you why would spoil the ending, so I'll skip it. Although the movie's unexpected conclusion left me unsatisfied, I'm still glad I bought this dvd. In fact, I'd say it's one of the most memorable films I've ever bought for a dollar. Highly recommended, but be aware that the ending will shock you. Maybe that was the director's point all along in showing the futility of the conflict between the Arabs and Jews. October 8, 2005

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