Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Alex Gibney

Writer (WGA):

Alex Gibney (written by)

Release Date:

13 kesäkuu 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

In 2002, a young cab driver picked up a few passengers near his home in Afghanistan... He never returned.

Plot:

An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Afghanistan | Taxi | Guantanamo Bay | Taxi Driver

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 8 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Alex Gibney	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brian Keith Allen	...	Soldier - New York studio shoot reenactment
Moazzam Begg	...	Himself - Torture victim (as Moazzam Beg)
Christopher Beiring	...	Himself - Captain
Willie Brand	...	Himself - Military police
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Cafferty	...	Himself (archive footage)
Brian Cammack	...	Himself - Military police
William Cassara	...	Himself - Attorney
Doug Cassel	...	Himself - Professor
Dick Cheney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Cloonan	...	Himself - Former FBI agent
Damien Corsetti	...	Himself - Military interrogator
Thomas Curtis	...	Himself - Sergeant, military police
Greg D'Agostino	...	Soldier - New York studio shoot reenactment
Lynndie England	...	Herself (archive footage)
Tommy Franks	...	Himself - General (archive footage)
Carlotta Gall	...	Herself - New York Times reporter
John Galligan	...	Himself - Attorney
Frank Gibney	...	Himself (as Frank B. Gibney)
Tim Golden	...	Himself - New York Times reporter
Alberto Gonzales	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles A. Graner	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gita Gutierrez	...	Herself - Attorney
David Hayden	...	Himself - Colonel (archive footage)
Donald O. Hebb	...	Himself - Behavioral Psychologist
Scott Hennen	...	Himself (archive footage) (voice)
Jay Hood	...	Himself - Brigadier General
Scott Horton	...	Himself - President of the International League for Human Rights
John Hutson	...	Himself - Rear admiral, retired
Maan Kaassamani	...	Detainee - New York studio shoot reenactment
Anthony Lagouranis	...	Himself - Military intelligence (as Tony Lagouranis)
Eric Lahammer	...	Himself - Military interrogator
Carl Levin	...	Himself - Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee
Steven Loring	...	Himself - Sergeant
John McCain	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alfred W. McCoy	...	Himself - Professor of political history
James McGarrah	...	Himself - Rear Admiral
Dan McNeill	...	Himself - General (archive footage) (voice)
Geoffrey D. Miller	...	Himself - Major General (archive footage)
Alberto J. Mora	...	Himself - General Counsel of the US Navy, retired
Anthony Morden	...	Himself - Sergeant, military police
Dan Mori	...	Himself - Major
Richard Myers	...	Himself - US Chief of Staff (archive footage)
Karyn Plonsky	...	Soldier - New York studio shoot reenactment
Colin Powell	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Reed	...	Himself - Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (archive footage)
Condoleezza Rice	...	Herself (archive footage)
Donald Rumsfeld	...	Himself - U.S. Secretary of Defense (archive footage)
Selena Salcedo	...	Herself - Sergeant
Randall M. Schmidt	...	Himself - Lieutenant General
Clive Stafford Smith	...	Himself - Lawyer
Glendale Walls	...	Himself - Military intelligence
Lawrence Wilkerson	...	Himself - US Army colonel, retired
Tom Wilner	...	Himself - Attorney
Carolyn A. Wood	...	Herself - Captain (archive footage)
John Yoo	...	Himself - US Department of Justice

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images, and content involving torture and graphic nudity.

Runtime:

106 min | Finland:53 min (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Argentina:13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:R (British Columbia) | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Yakubi, Afghanistan

Company:

Discovery Channel

Movie Connections:

Features "24" (2001)

Well-supported proof of the inefficiency of a Bush administration policy

This is yet another documentary aimed at the Bush administration hitting in the soft spot with one of the most stringent issues related to the post 9/11 events. What makes Gibney's film worth watching is its effectiveness in representing its subject matter. Much of this effectiveness stems from the fact that this is, as far as possible, an objective approach. It tries to link the major flaws of the Bush administration to the chain of command that leads to such heinous crimes as depicted in the film. The faults of the administration are not presupposed but shown to be the case in an argumentative manner. It's easy to point the finger and say that something is amiss with the U.S army and its procedures but to actually prove it like a surgeon cutting and exposing the wound is much more convincing.

The subject matter is not entirely new, there have been serious debates about the Bagram and Abu Ghrayb interrogation procedures for the suspects of terrorism as far as 2004 but the issue has never really hit the public with significant impact. This documentary demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt that the U.S army is responsible for murder and the guilt is shared by the administrations' contempt for a legal system (The Geneva Convention) that should give the procedural framework to handle the most difficult cases (even terrorists) as humanely as possible. After all, the Americans handled Hitler's bunch very carefully and they executed them only AFTER they were proved guilty.

But besides showing that the Bush administrations' lack of interest for the law and the absurd behavior among many soldiers lead to innocents' being killed, this film analyzes the matter as a case of administrative failure. Bush and Rumsfeld etc. are not only shown to be immoral (which was a thing that didn't need proof, anyway) but they are shown to be ineffective leaders who are unable to take the best decisions. Torture is not the best alternative to obtain information, not as much as effective as gaining the trust of the prisoner, for instance. Then why do it? Just for the fun of it?

I liked the way this was realized on a technical scale, very good pacing, editing and cinematography (the shots in Afganisthan really managed to capture the beauty of the landscape)