"Taxi to the Dark Side" movie review
March 14th 2008 00:48
Dick Cheney told Tim Russert in a now infamous interview that America would have to work "the dark side, if you will" shortly after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, he was alluding to a deliberate fog constructed around intelligence and information gathering and the holding of detainees that grew into the abuses at Bagram and Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay. The film doesn't' pull any punches, and isn't the easiest to watch. It's no popcorn flick.
It comes from filmmaker Alex Gibney, who was also behind the outstanding Enron expose, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. This time around Gibney and company take on the treatment and torture and killing of detainees being held by American military and intelligence groups. It gives an account of soldiers operating with tacit approval while doing heinous things in the fog circling around them. It is worthy to note that although some on the right will dismiss the film (many probably won't even see it) as a partisan attack piece, that the majority of those who speak to the outrages are military or officials that were disgusted. the film does an excellent job pointing out that the policies were part of an overall strategy sanctioned from the very top, even if with a "wink and a nod."
Taxi to the Dark Side begins with the story of a young taxi driver in Afghanistan named Dilawar. He was turned over to U.S. forces by Afghan militia as a suspected terrorist and sent to the prison at the Bagram base. Five days later he was dead, and the coroner ruled his death a homicide. His legs were so badly damaged and tortured that had he lived they would have needed to be amputated. And he is not the only one. Of more than 100 deaths reported of prisoners in American custody, 37 were deemed to be homicides by the military itself.
We also are reminded that the big majority of prisoners held in U.S. custody were turned over to them by militias, warlords, drug dealers, or neighbors with an axe to grind. We also learn that many of them aren't actually guilty of anything. In the case of the tortured-to-death Dilawar, it was in fact the group who turned him in who was really responsible for the rocket attacks he was accused of.
The film looks at the now infamous goings-on at Abu Gharib in Iraq and points to the fact that it was far from a "few bad apples" on "the night shift" but was endemic in the detainee holding programs around the world. It's easy to say that a film is unforgettable, or a must-see, or any of the other positive platitudes lauded on Taxi to the Dark Side. It's easy because it is so chilling and so well done and so very telling. And it is true. This film should be required viewing for anyone who will be questioning prisoners, and it should be seen by anyone who still feels the need to defend the tactics. John McCain should take in a screening and perhaps he will be reminded why he was against torture.
Taxi to the Dark Side was the hands-down winner for best documentary feature at the Oscar's earlier this year. Hopefully the award will bring added attention and it will be seen by a larger audience. And it will make the audience ask just what the hell we are doing and why we are doing it and if it is truly the face of America that we want to present to the rest of the world. Regardless of your political stripe you should see this film, and you should see it soon.
It comes from filmmaker Alex Gibney, who was also behind the outstanding Enron expose, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. This time around Gibney and company take on the treatment and torture and killing of detainees being held by American military and intelligence groups. It gives an account of soldiers operating with tacit approval while doing heinous things in the fog circling around them. It is worthy to note that although some on the right will dismiss the film (many probably won't even see it) as a partisan attack piece, that the majority of those who speak to the outrages are military or officials that were disgusted. the film does an excellent job pointing out that the policies were part of an overall strategy sanctioned from the very top, even if with a "wink and a nod."
Taxi to the Dark Side begins with the story of a young taxi driver in Afghanistan named Dilawar. He was turned over to U.S. forces by Afghan militia as a suspected terrorist and sent to the prison at the Bagram base. Five days later he was dead, and the coroner ruled his death a homicide. His legs were so badly damaged and tortured that had he lived they would have needed to be amputated. And he is not the only one. Of more than 100 deaths reported of prisoners in American custody, 37 were deemed to be homicides by the military itself.
We also are reminded that the big majority of prisoners held in U.S. custody were turned over to them by militias, warlords, drug dealers, or neighbors with an axe to grind. We also learn that many of them aren't actually guilty of anything. In the case of the tortured-to-death Dilawar, it was in fact the group who turned him in who was really responsible for the rocket attacks he was accused of.
The film looks at the now infamous goings-on at Abu Gharib in Iraq and points to the fact that it was far from a "few bad apples" on "the night shift" but was endemic in the detainee holding programs around the world. It's easy to say that a film is unforgettable, or a must-see, or any of the other positive platitudes lauded on Taxi to the Dark Side. It's easy because it is so chilling and so well done and so very telling. And it is true. This film should be required viewing for anyone who will be questioning prisoners, and it should be seen by anyone who still feels the need to defend the tactics. John McCain should take in a screening and perhaps he will be reminded why he was against torture.
Taxi to the Dark Side was the hands-down winner for best documentary feature at the Oscar's earlier this year. Hopefully the award will bring added attention and it will be seen by a larger audience. And it will make the audience ask just what the hell we are doing and why we are doing it and if it is truly the face of America that we want to present to the rest of the world. Regardless of your political stripe you should see this film, and you should see it soon.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
This has been high on my must see list since I read the synopsis some time ago...glad it lives up to its promise