Terrorism Considered as One of the Fine Arts (2009)
Adapting its title and theme from Thomas De Quincey's murder text, this long-overdue return to narrative cinema by the great British filmmaker Peter Whitehead is based around a mesmerizing psycho-geographical exploration of modern day Vienna. The film incorporates a record of the subversive underbelly of the city into a poetic meditation on conspiracy theory, ecoterrorism, time and cinema, retracing the story of The Third Man. Adapted from a trilogy of Whitehead's own Nohzone novels, the objective and subjective becomes blurred as the film director merges with the fictional detective in a journey into the murky activities of covert counter-insurgency groups. Kaleidoscopic in intent, the film mixes Noh theatre, Victorian novels, Vienna after the war, opium, domain names and Jacob's ladder "pitched twixt Heaven and Charring Cross".
Director: Peter Whitehead
![]() |
Samantha Berger as |
![]() |
Sophie Strohmeier as |
![]() |
Liza Tsyzina-Whitehead as |
![]() |
Joanna Woodrow as |
![]() |
Alice Schneider as |
| Directing | Peter Whitehead | Director |
| Writing | Peter Whitehead | Writer |
| Writing | Sophie Strohmeier | Writer |
| Sound | Nina Erber | Music |