New Documentary Unearths Horrific Salman Rushdie Attack, Chronicling His Hospitalization

Alex Gibney's documentary, “Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie,” presents a profoundly distressing account of the author's ordeal following the August 12, 2022, attack. A central and powerful element of the film lies in its unflinching close-ups of Rushdie’s wounded body in the days and weeks post-assault. Viewers are confronted with the visceral reality of his mangled hand, the long train of stitches across his belly, and his bloodied right eye. This raw honesty is made possible by Rushdie’s conscious decision to showcase his scars, sharing footage shot by his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, during his hospitalization. This intimate, diaristic documentation provides a stark, emotional complement to Gibney's typically comprehensive, reporter-style investigations.

The film opens with a feverish recreation of the attack at a literary festival in upstate New York, visualized from Rushdie’s perspective. Blinding stage lights transform his assailant, Hadi Matar, into a shadowy mass, while each stab of the knife resonates as a fleshy thud. Matar is mentioned by name only once; in Rushdie’s narrative, he becomes a symbolic representation of the relentless incursions on his life and liberties that began with the publication of his 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses.” This controversial book scandalized many and led to a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, then Iran's Supreme ruler, effectively placing a target on Rushdie’s head.

As Rushdie grapples with questions of why he neither fought back nor fled, he embarks on an extended reflection concerning his relationship with death and fatalism. His ongoing recovery is tenderly chronicled through Griffiths’ footage, which includes poignant moments like a call from family friend Wes Anderson. Simultaneously, Gibney incorporates archival news footage and older on-camera interviews to delve into Rushdie's early years. These segments explore his identity-crisis-riddled experiences between India and his adopted home of London, and the emotional abuse he endured from his alcoholic father. However, the documentary primarily focuses on the events following 1988, when his Islam-inspired magical realist novel ignited a fierce global debate over free speech and creative freedom.

Excerpts from “The Satanic Verses,” which tells the story of two Indian-Muslim men in London undergoing spiritual upheavals after surviving a plane crash, are accompanied by scratchy animated renderings. These visuals echo Rushdie’s existential musings and underscore the work as a product of his imagination, thereby highlighting the absurdity of the violent responses from orthodox Muslim communities – all that rage for a story. This approach also emphasizes the profound dangers that religious extremism poses to civil society. The film recounts the aftermath of Khomeini’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s assassination, detailing widespread protests, book burnings in the U.K., Pakistan, and India, along with bookstore destructions, editorial office torchings, and the murder of Rushdie’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Agarashi.

While these events might not be new revelations for those familiar with one of the late 20th century’s most shocking controversies, the 2022 assault serves as a chilling reminder that artistic expression remains as frighteningly vulnerable as Rushdie’s brutalized body. This message, while perhaps obvious to anyone following the American news cycle, gains a powerful, albeit obligatorily sentimental, personal touch through the resilient Rushdie himself and his unwavering support system, spearheaded by his tenacious wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, who stands as his constant 'rock' against a seemingly never-ending saga.