The United States’ rendition, torture and indefinite confinement of suspected terrorists after 9/11 remain shameful in the nation’s history, but those cases have also proved themselves difficult to dramatize, even in a film with the pedigree of “The Mauritanian.”
Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”) directs Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch in an adaptation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s acclaimed “Guantanamo Diary,” but the results are no more successful than previous films like “Rendition” and “Camp X-Ray” in turning this real-life horror into satisfying drama. (That sinking feeling that audiences might get at seeing the words “based on a true story” open a film is completely merited here.)
Whether it’s because these wounds are too recent and can’t be examined with historical perspective yet, or because the abuses heaped upon Guantanamo inmates are so unquestionably barbaric that there’s nothing that a narrative film can conclude about the process besides,
See full article at The Wrap »
Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”) directs Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch in an adaptation of Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s acclaimed “Guantanamo Diary,” but the results are no more successful than previous films like “Rendition” and “Camp X-Ray” in turning this real-life horror into satisfying drama. (That sinking feeling that audiences might get at seeing the words “based on a true story” open a film is completely merited here.)
Whether it’s because these wounds are too recent and can’t be examined with historical perspective yet, or because the abuses heaped upon Guantanamo inmates are so unquestionably barbaric that there’s nothing that a narrative film can conclude about the process besides,