The Road to Guantanamo
Michael Winterbottom is one of the most versatile directors working today and I try to see all of his films. His two previous films were Nine Songs, which focuses on the relationship of a young couple in London (with real sex!) and Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, a very funny movie about the making of a supposedly unmakable film from the book Tristam Shandy.
The Road to Guantanamo, which Winterbottom co-directed with Mat Whitecross, won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. It is the story of three young Muslim men known as the Tipton Three (Tipton is the part of England that they come from). The film is part documentary and part dramatization.
The tale starts off when the three men leave England to go to Pakistan. One of them is getting married and the other two want to be there to join in the celebration. This is at the time that the US began its bombing campaign in Afghanistan. The men decide to cross the border to see if there is any way they can help war torn Afghanistan. When they see that there is nothing they can do they decide to go back to Pakistan. However, they are captured by the Northern Alliance and eventually sent to the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There US and British military and intelligence personnel try to torture them into confessing that they are connected with the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. After two years of this the men are released. There were never any formal charges ever made against them at any time during their imprisonment.
The dramatization is harrowing enough (acted out by unknown actors) but the account by the real men is even more chilling. I hope that people will actually see this film because even though it is not easy to sit through it is vital that we know what is going on in this prison camp (we already know that most of the people there are being held on trumped up charges). The governments of the US and the UK condemn torture when it is carried out in other countries so why do think that they can get away with carrying out something so vile? Yes, this movie has a point of view and that is fine with me. We need more filmmakers (and artists in general) taking a stand and I congratulate everyone involved with The Road to Guantanamo for being brave enough to do so.
The Road to Guantanamo, which Winterbottom co-directed with Mat Whitecross, won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival. It is the story of three young Muslim men known as the Tipton Three (Tipton is the part of England that they come from). The film is part documentary and part dramatization.
The tale starts off when the three men leave England to go to Pakistan. One of them is getting married and the other two want to be there to join in the celebration. This is at the time that the US began its bombing campaign in Afghanistan. The men decide to cross the border to see if there is any way they can help war torn Afghanistan. When they see that there is nothing they can do they decide to go back to Pakistan. However, they are captured by the Northern Alliance and eventually sent to the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. There US and British military and intelligence personnel try to torture them into confessing that they are connected with the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. After two years of this the men are released. There were never any formal charges ever made against them at any time during their imprisonment.
The dramatization is harrowing enough (acted out by unknown actors) but the account by the real men is even more chilling. I hope that people will actually see this film because even though it is not easy to sit through it is vital that we know what is going on in this prison camp (we already know that most of the people there are being held on trumped up charges). The governments of the US and the UK condemn torture when it is carried out in other countries so why do think that they can get away with carrying out something so vile? Yes, this movie has a point of view and that is fine with me. We need more filmmakers (and artists in general) taking a stand and I congratulate everyone involved with The Road to Guantanamo for being brave enough to do so.
posted by Film Fanatic | 6:18 AM
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