Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Alex Gibney

Writer (WGA):

Alex Gibney (written by)

Release Date:

13 June 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

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:

Human Rights | Torture | Afghanistan | Military

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Oct. 7	4:00 AM	HBO
Thur. Oct. 9	9:00 PM	HBO
Thur. Oct. 16	1:00 AM	HBO

Cast

Alex Gibney	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brian Keith Allen	...	U.S. War Soldier
Moazzam Begg	...	Himself - Torture victim (as Moazzam Beg)
Willie Brand	...	Himself - Military police
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
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
Carlotta Gall	...	Herself, New York Times reporter
Tim Golden	...	Himself - New York Times reporter
Gita Gutierrez	...	Herself - Attorney
Scott Horton	...	Himself - President of the International League for Human Rights
John Hutson	...	Himself - Rear admiral, retired
Maan Kaassamani	...	Detainee
Eric Lahammer	...	Himself - Military interrogator
Carl Levin	...	Himself - Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee
Alfred W. McCoy	...	Himself - Professor of political history
Alberto J. Mora	...	Himself - General Counsel of the US Navy, retired
Anthony Morden	...	Himself - Sergeant, military police
Karyn Plonsky	...	Soldier
Jack Reed	...	Himself - Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (archive footage)
Clive Stafford Smith	...	Himself, lawyer
Lawrence Wilkerson	...	Himself - US Army colonel, retired
Tom Wilner	...	Himself - Attorney
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)

Company:

Jigsaw Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-02-23)" (2008)

How can anyone claim this film is biased?

This horrifying documentary won the Oscar for 2007. Using the case of an innocent Afghan taxi driver who were tortured to death by American interrogators in Bagram prison as the starting point, the film chronicles the atrocities committed by the Bush administration in the name of American people and an ill-defined 'war on terror'.

The film is written, directed and narrated by Alex Gibney, son of a high-ranking naval officer who was an interrogator in World War II. A great American and a true patriot, Frank Gibney's final disappointment of what became of the great nation of the United States in the hands of a few liars is heart-wrenching.

There is not a single frame in the film that is not supported by hard evidence. All of the investigation was conducted by Americans whose credentials of decency and patriotism are above suspicion. The film is a chronicle of how paranoia, self-serving deceit and mere stupidity can threaten the very values a great nation was built on. It should be impossible for anyone who watches this meticulous document to ever criticize the veracity of claims put forward by the recent films, Rendition, In the Valley of Elah, or Redacted - flawed as films though that they were.

Every person in the world, especially every American, that cares about the true nature of freedom and the sanctity of the individual (the basic tenets on which America was built) should see this film. How could anyone claim that it would be loved only by the supporters of Taliban is beyond me.