The Boy from Lebanon [DVD] [1994]

This French drama, set in 1986, focuses upon the friendship between two Arab boys, one a normal boy raised in France, and the other a trained assassin on a mission for the fundamentalist organization that trained him. Laid has been indoctrinated and trained in a secret guerrilla training camp. Though only eleven, he is more a holy warrior than he is a little boy. Because he is so serious and calm, Laid is chosen to perform an assassination in Paris. Though he speaks fluent French, he needs to know more about how little French boys behave. Karim, who was raised in Paris, is forcibly borrowed from his father. Karim is the antithesis of Laid. He is fun loving, Westernized, and enthusiastic. Laid is intrigued and they become friends. The friendship changes history when the assassination plan fails in a surprising way.~Sandra Brennan