Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

Director:

Alex Gibney

Writer (WGA):

Alex Gibney (written by)

Release Date:

13 June 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 9 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 - General, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 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

Colour:

Colour

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 "The Situation Room" (2005)

Not an easy watch, but an important and excellent film

Too few have heard of Dilawar. Those who have will probably never forget him. Alex Gibney certainly will not. His latest film starts and ends with this poor innocent taxi driver who, in 2002, was taken to the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan. Five days later, he was dead.

Dilawar's death was the spark which ultimately led to the international awareness of what the Bush administration was doing to its detainees in the war on terror. Gibney's film, however, decides to look up the tree, not down, to discover who was really responsible for these unpleasant developments.

Gibney's film is bolstered by frank and interesting interviews with some of the troops on the ground. Their remorse is clear, as is their disgust. And disgust is the right word. This is, by no means, an easy watch. The use of the appalling footage which has been generated by the recent conflicts is necessary because, if anyone is in any doubt about how morally reprehensible these tactics are, this film will make it abundantly clear.

However, this film's real strength is the structure of its attack on the tactics that are employed. Gibney demonstrates that the tactics used are hopelessly inadequate and never yield effective information. There is a cutting and brilliant comparison with the old techniques and the new where an interviewee, a former FBI interrogator, uses his old tools of interrogation – words – and you can feel yourself being persuaded.

This is not just a polemic. It is a human story and a powerful and well-constructed argument. It should be essential viewing as what has happened at Guantanamo, Bagram and Abu Ghraib should never be forgotten. This is excellent, important film-making.

4 Stars out of 5