Taxi from the Dark Side; Dark, Dreary, Depressing

“We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals…those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake,” said President Obama in his inaugural address. Shortly thereafter he signed executive orders to suspend trials of terror suspects held at Guantánamo. The 2008 Oscar Winner for Best Documentary, “Taxi to the Dark Side” follows the case of Dilawar, a taxi driver, taken to Bagram prison and reported dead after five days. Cause of death: Homicide. The film then describes the different methods of interrogation used at Bagram Air Base, Abu Ghraib prison and Guantánamo Bay prison.

Using Dilawar to propel the story, Gibney utilizes news footage and photographs to further his investigation into U.S. policy on suspected terrorists. Gibney’s revealing documentary sheds light on the treatment of these suspects when no written rules are in effect and soldiers can do as they please.

Gibney combines interviews from numerous soldiers/interrogators, attorneys, one released detainee, and archival footage and photographs to create an engaging and horrifying documentary. On the surface, Gibney brings up political issues and questions of humanity. On a deeper level his documentary provokes the audience to wonder about the human ability to treat another with such disregard for life.

The political aspects of the film focus on the Bush administration’s response to the then increasing number of suspects brought into these facilities. The footage goes on to show Donald Rumsfeld’s role in the changing policies and the split from the Geneva Convention.

The prison guards, who received no word on proper conduct, used numerous torture tactics that didn’t follow the criteria set forth by the Geneva Convention. The soldiers used sexual assault, sleep deprivation, stress positions, dogs, and waterboarding as a means of getting the suspects to talk.

The editing of the documentary was done well and showed considerable amounts of footage from Bagram, Abu Ghraib, and Guantánamo, the three prisons whose tactics were questioned. Gibney used photographs that show the American soldiers as villains and the prisoners as victims. Interestingly the War on Terror began when America was victimized through the 9/11 attacks.

Though Gibney was effective in his editing, the film seemed to drag and the same phrases were heard over and over and over again. “Sleep deprivation, stress positions, sensory deprivation, and waterboarding,” were all so overused that the words lost their original oomph. Furthermore, the film lacked any dimension. Gibney adds footage with support from both sides, but the lacking diversity in interview material weaken the film.

“Taxi to the Dark Side” is not a film to be missed; it is an eye opening look at what truly went on in Bagram, Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo. Though the film is repetitive, it does get the point across that American Citizens, whether blissfully unaware of the facts or not, need to take notice of the past tragedies and turn their heads towards the hope that this new administration is giving the country.