The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair (2006) User Reviews

when you become a prisoner at Abu Ghraib, life becomes surreal

[Needfire · 7/10 · 16 September 2006]

Imagine you're an Iraqi journalist who captures images and stories of the American occupation. Some of the stories show the humanity of the soldiers befriending the kids, giving them chocolates or playing soccer with them. You watch your once beautiful country burn and see nothing except an apocalyptic scene that is now your reality.

Yunnis Abbas is the subject of this film. He was once taken prisoner and tortured by Uday Hussein. Under the American occupation, Abbas is mistaken, along with his brothers, as insurgents who are building a bomb in their home. The brothers are all good people with responsible jobs and a devotion to their mom. All of the brothers, including Yunnis, are taken and interrogated but of course, they know nothing about the insurgents because they are ordinary men caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. An embedded videographer who accompanied the Marines on a raid of the Abbas' family home films Yunnis as he's got his hands on his head and proclaiming innocence--he's just a journalist. Nobody believes him.

This is an unsettling film. One day you're on the beach or celebrating at a friend's party. The next thing you know, you're caught up in the hell of Abu Ghraib, accused of plotting to kill British prime minister, Tony Blair, because you've done some work for the BBC.

This is indeed another documentary about the injustice that so many Iraqis see as they try to eek out an existence under the American occupation. What the viewer sees here is the difficulty that the Americans have in identifying the good guys from the bad. They also have little awareness that they themselves may actually be the bad guys of this situation. Sure, they perceive themselves as liberators but are they when so many Iraqi men are rounded up and questioned mercilessly about their involvement with anti-U.S. activity.

The film isn't perfect--it resembles an extended 60 Minutes interview with a man who has definitely been wronged, along with his brothers. One of the most emotionally engaging scenes is when the brothers ask if their mom is okay; they're not to sure if the soldiers will cause harm to their mother. One soldier responds kindly while another one dismisses their pleas to take care of their mom.

The filmmaker uses an interesting technique of making certain parts resemble panels of a comic book. At first, I thought that this was odd and off-putting. In the end, it made a lot of sense. Comic books are full of good guys and villains. This war is also full of Rambos and guys who see themselves as the good guys. Whether they are or not remains to be something that will one day be determined in history texts.

eye-opening documentary

[Buddy-51 · 7/10 · 28 July 2007]

"The Prisoner Or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair" is a movie with one hell of a provocative, eye-catching title. It's only after you figure out what the movie is actually about, however, that you get the full ironic flavor of that title.

This timely documentary chronicles the story of Yunis Khatayer Abbas, a freelance Iraqi journalist who, along with two of his younger brothers, was falsely accused of planning to assassinate the British Prime Minister during one of his official trips to Baghdad. The movie makes it clear that Yunis and his siblings were innocent from the get-go, and that, after serving nine grueling months at sites including the notorious Abu Ghraib, they were finally released back to their worried families, with a simple muttered "sorry" from the American commanders as sole compensation for the misery they'd suffered.

The story behind the movie is almost as intriguing as the movie itself. Yunis first came to the attention of documentary filmmaker Michael Tucker when the latter was embedded with a National Guard unit - whose job it was to scour Bagdad neighborhoods for suspected terrorists and weapon caches - on the night Yunis was arrested. Yunis' pleas of innocence, as well as his assertion that he was himself a journalist, piqued the interest of Tucker, who, two years later, decided to follow up on the story and find out what had become of the man.

A large portion of the movie's 72-minute running time is dedicated to Yunis speaking freely to the camera, relating the experiences that happened to him in his own unedited words. In addition, Tucker and his co-director, Petra Epperlein (also his wife), include footage of Yunis' actual arrest (first seen in Tucker's previous film, "Gunner Palace"), home movies of Yunis and his family at home and at the beach in happier times, and interviews with humane soldiers who served as guards during Yunis' captivity in Abu Ghraib. The brutalities and indignities Yunis suffered during his imprisonment come through loud and clear as he recounts the horrors of his experience. Epperlein, an artist in her own right, has also provided a series of stark graphic images to go along with Yunis' words.

Given its subject matter, "The Prisoner" will undoubtedly be seen by some on the Right as a mere leftist screed or tract, one designed to paint the Americans in the worst light possible and, in so doing, "provide aid and comfort to the enemy." It would be truly a shame if anyone saw the movie in such simplistic terms, especially as Yunis makes it quite clear that he was no fan of Saddam Hussein either, having suffered imprisonment and torture for daring to speak out against injustice under that regime as well. Plus, the movie emphasizes the humanity of many of the American fighters in standing up against the hellish treatment being inflicted on the prisoners under their care. Yunis speaks in glowing terms of some of these men, and it is clear that, through the experience, he forged lifelong relationships with a number of them. Yunis' understandable bitterness appears to extend only to the individuals responsible for his predicament, not to Americans in general.

It is a well-known, but rarely practiced, truism that the willingness to engage in honest self-criticism is the first step towards uncovering the truth and achieving justice in the world. "The Prisoner" is a small but crucial step in that direction.

Sorry. That's all - sorry.

[lastliberal · 8/10 · 10 February 2008]

This film uses chapter breaks and comic book-style illustrations to highlight the amusing, astonishing, and horrifying absurdity of its central tale: that of an Iraqi that was taken prisoner based upon false information. The same duo that borough us Gunner Palace, a look at the Iraq invasion from the eyes of an American soldier, now presents a view from the Iraqi side in this indie film nominated for an American Spirit Award.

Now, one may tend to discount the testimony of an Iraqi about innocence or the conditions at the prisons, or the treatment by interrogators, but the fact is that there is overwhelming documentation written by U.S. military in high positions attesting to the fact that up to 90% of the prisoners had no intelligence values and were "simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." These same military officers also knew of the inhumane conditions in the prisons and the fact that basic sanitation was lacking, and that the contractor-supplied food was rancid and infested and caused the prisoners to vomit and experience diarrhea after they ate. This would be obvious to anyone who saw the prisoners as they had all lost weight.

The treatment of the Iraqis as documented in this film brings shame upon all Americans as we are the ones who allow those responsible to remain in office.

Franz Kafka lives in Iraq

[JustCuriosity · 9/10 · 11 March 2007]

An expanded version of this Kafkaesque film screened today at the SXSW Film Festival. The film, a spin off from Tucker and Epperstein's earlier Iraq film, Gunner Palace, tells the story of an ordinary Iraqi arrested and held at Abu Gharib for no apparent reason. Yunnis Abbas is an articulate English-speaking Iraqi journalist - who was once imprisoned and tortured by one of Saddam's sons - is arrested during a raid one night, along with 3 of his brothers, for no apparent reason. He is interrogated and held for 9 months and then suddenly released. There is no expalnation for his detention under awful conditions in an outdoor tent complex at Abu Gharib. There is no evidence beyond a vague and unsubstantiated accusation that he is somehow involved in a plot to kill British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The film tells a story that Americans need to hear. It is one of thousands of such human tales that occur every day in American-occupied Iraq. This story of the injustice done to a single man is a microcosm of the insane nature, brutality, and intelligence failures that have come to typify the war in Iraq. The surreal nature of American soldiers chasing shadows of terrorists is plain to see. While there have been many good films about the Iraq War, this one does an excellent job of humanizing the cost so that Americans can see the destructive and incompetent nature of the human tragedy playing out in Iraq. The film is stark and disturbing to watch with touches of dark humor.

The version screened here at SXSW has been significantly expanded to 72 minutes from the 54 minute version that screened in Toronto. The director has added an extended interview with a recently discharged US soldier (Thompson) who guarded Yassin Abbas in Abu Gharib. His presence adds a human element to the American presence. It shows that while many individual soldiers are competent, well-intentioned, and humane, the American presence has become a self-destructive nightmare.

This film should be widely viewed by Americans, particularly those who believe that we are succeeded in winning the "War on Terror" through our continued presence in Iraq.

Guilty of Being Iraqi

[adhamiya · 10/10 · 10 April 2007]

This film is a sequel of sorts to "Gunner Palace" the Iraq film that came out in 2005. Much like that film, The Prisoner is not overtly political, rather, it lets the characters tell the story. In Gunner Palace, the perspective is the American soldier. In The Prisoner, the perspective is largely Iraqi. The films should be watched together to fully appreciate.

I don't want to give away too much, but I can say that you walk away from this film feeling like you know an Iraqi and have a new sense of just how much the Iraqi people suffered--both under Saddam and during this conflict. The film is also surprisingly funny and it should come with a disclaimer that gives the audience permission to laugh. It would be funny if it wasn't true!

As we enter the 5th year of the war, more people need to see films like this. I would also suggest reading the director's back-story in Vanity Fair at http://www.theprisoner.us.

Is this a good documentary with really bad audio? Or am I tripping'?

[Patrickkrauss · 1/10 · 4 September 2007]

Look this is a good documentary about Journalisim/prison and USA brutality. I loved it, but the DVD I rented from Hollywood Video had the worst audio I seen since I've been in film school.

Is this for real or am I just tripping, the levels were all over the place. The main interview that is the narrative voice of the entire film was so low and everything else was high enough to wake the neighbors down the street. Didn't they have a post audio mixer?

Did anyone else have this problem or am I just tripping'?

Otherwise I wanted to really enjoy this but I couldn't get over the amateur audio. Come on this was a great story. Is it really this easy to make a movie and sell it and have audio issues. I don't think so. But every one in the room was agreeing this is bizarre. Maybe and hopefully this was a bad DVD, for what could be a great documentary.

Stranger than Fiction

[info-11552 · 10/10 · 13 January 2007]

I just saw the film at a sneak preview screening in New York where we did not know what we were seeing. It's not the kind of film I would normally see, but I found that Mr. Abbas' story opened my eyes to what average Iraqis have suffered in this war. More, his story--and the charges against him--would be extremely funny if were not for the fact that they are true. Yes, US intelligence thought he was plotting to kill Tony Blair. How they thought he was supposed to do that (the only evidence they found was a bottle of shampoo!) is beyond me. The real shocker in the film is just how bad the conditions in Abu Ghraib were. The army admits now that up to 80% of the 1000s of prisoners there were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I also agree with the previous poster that the comic imagery is a surprise, but it does work. The whole story reads like a comedy of errors--complete with cartoonish villains.

How Can Tony Blair Sleep Knowing This Man Is Free????

[oknotok · 9/10 · 9 January 2007]

I wholeheartedly agree with the review by 'pm-84' above. Who cares how many innocent Iraqis have to be treated sub-humanly and imprisoned for months on end? So long as Iraq is safe for Tony Blair to visit for a few hours when he feels like it, the war has been a success.

The film focuses on the imprisonment of Iraqi journalist Yunis Abbas, after his family home is raided by US forces who have received intelligence that Yunis is planning to bomb Tony Blair.

As 'pm-84' correctly points out, however, the real victim is Tony Blair. Everywhere Tony Blair goes, there may be people who want to do him harm. How are we to know who those people are until we imprison them for 9 months?

Despite their highlighting of the dangers faced by our brave Leaders, the filmmakers erred in showing sympathy to the enemy in a time of war, so for this I docked them one mark. 9/10.

Tony Blair has nothing to fear

[secretagent_007 · 8/10 · 8 December 2007]

There is a temptation to call this a political documentary, but it's really not all that political. In fact, I'm not sure if the word is even uttered once during these 72 minutes. It's actually about civil rights and what happens to them during a foreign occupation. Yunis Khatayer Abbas is a freelance news cameraman in Iraq and this is his story, straight from his mouth to your ears.

The military routinely raids the homes of suspected terrorists in Iraq. This seems to make sense if they've got intelligence pointing to that person. Bad guys make bombs in there? Go get 'em. One night the Army raided Yunis' house and arrested him and his three brothers, claiming possession of intelligence that they were involved in a plot to assassinate Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair. Nevermind that no explosives or bomb-making materials were in the house. The presence of a pistol and a rifle magazine (never did see a rifle) were all that were required to justify their arrest. Yunis, and presumably his brothers, were all beaten in interrogation but revealed nothing about a plan to kill Blair probably because no such plan existed. Once it was determined they were of "low intelligence value" they were moved to Camp Ganci, a section of the Abu Ghraib prison, and kept there for almost a year.

By Army officials' own admission, the state of that camp was as bad as it could be. It was overcrowded, leading to frequent riots, well within range of enemy artillery, prisoners were treated like animals, and the food was usually rotten and covered with bugs. As good as it might make someone feel to hear that enemy combatants were forced to live in concentration camps, we must remember that this camp was for the people with "low intelligence value." Even the Army guessed that 90% of the detainees there had no involvement with terrorism whatsoever. Why wasn't anyone being released? Embarrassment. If the military had to officially acknowledge that a great deal of its intelligence was wrong and that it was apprehending, violently questioning, and holding innocent people indefinitely, there would be a worldwide call for action. (Or so you'd think.) The guards at the prison only knew that they had to keep these people there no matter what, the soldiers who raid the homes of civilians only know that they have to capture anyone suspicious no matter what, the people who give them orders know that they have to follow Washington's directives no matter what, and the people in Washington only know that they can't look weak in the eyes of the American public, no matter what. Or else they might lose that election. So maybe it is about politics in the end.

Upon his release, the man in charge of Camp Ganci told Yunis simply, "We were wrong. Sorry." Thanks for the update, buddy! Despite his treatment and horrid living conditions, Yunis doesn't once say that he hates America, George Bush, the Army, or freedom. In fact, he says he'd like to come to America one day because it's very beautiful here. His Kafkaesque journey into prison for no good reason and back again is an illustration of what happens to a society's liberties in a time of war. Armies don't care about a person's human rights when that person might possibly be an enemy. But if they use bad intelligence and arrest an innocent man, they have only created a new enemy where there was none before.

http://www.movieswithmark.com

Documenting a Kafkaesque Nightmare

[tploomis · 9/10 · 16 November 2011]

Yunis, the freelance Iraqi journalist who tells this story, had been imprisoned and tortured by one of Saddam Hussein's sons, so he was no friend of that regime. When America starts dropping its bombs and raiding houses, he sets out to document what is happening to his country, courageously venturing out into the mayhem and photographing the disintegration of his country. He goes to the wedding of a friend, his brother fires off celebratory shots in the air, and soon after American military soldiers have broken into his home, capturing Yunis and his brothers at gunpoint and frightening his elderly father and mother. This marks the beginning of a Kafkaesque encounter with military detention. His protestations of innocence do not convince anybody who is in power to release him, although an American soldier who is functioning as a guard at Abu Ghraib forms a bond with him, and they develop a mutual respect. Yunis settles into prison life, eating worm-infested food, sleeping in a tent, living in squalor, and surviving various riots by disgruntled prisoners, most who appear to be in much the same situation as Yunis -- innocent people who have been swept up by indiscriminate military operations. He begins working as an interpreter and at one point is instrumental in quelling a riot. He tries to make his adjustments to this nightmarish existence, and he finds various ways to do something constructive in that context. In this crazy setting no good deed can go unpunished, and he is transfered to the most restrictive part of Abu Ghraib, where he is interrogated and accused of plotting with his brothers to kill Tony Blair! After nine months of captivity he is finally released, the prison camp commander tells him he is no longer a suspect, and he is given an apology for his imprisonment. Yunis goes back to his family with his brothers. There he feels as though he is in a dream, expecting to wake up still imprisoned.

This is a disturbing film. It shows American soldiers carrying out operations in a foreign country that destroy people's lives because of the folly of their judgments. It shows American military incarcerating innocent people in very dehumanizing conditions. This Iraqi journalist is trapped in this very strange world --it feels like being held under water. Yunis has experienced it from both sides -- malicious brutality from the regime of Saddam Hussein and then again from the occupying forces of United States. Does America descend to the moral equivalent of the regime they overthrew? This documentary seems to suggest so, although there is some redemption through the voice of one American guard, who describes his experiences in Abu Ghraib and his attempts to bring some sanity to that insane situation.

I would have liked subtitles when Yunis is speaking. His English is certainly understandable, but at times it is a struggle.