For a film that depends heavily on talking heads, Taxi to the Dark Side has great visual grace and assurance. The shots of the Afghan countryside near the beginning and end are breathtakingly beautiful and unexpectedly tranquil. These shots give the story of Dilawar, the unfortunate taxi driver who was “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” an added poignance. And as he did in his Enron film, Gibney edits the material for maximum clarity and impact.
If you can watch this film unmoved, you are made of stone. Like The Power of Nightmares, as well as the excellent Road to Guantanamo, this is a movie that could change minds and shift policy, if only enough people see it. (If only, in fact, it could be made mandatory viewing for top leaders of the administration and the military.) Don’t even think of missing it when it’s released later this year.
Article comments
1 - handyguy
This film is now in theaters and is nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary. I assume there will be a DVD release before long. Please see it!
2 - handyguy
The movie has now won the Oscar as Best Documentary - well deserved, and I hope many more people will see it now.
3 - bliffle
When Cheney called for "the Darkside" on national TV, he was clearly issuing orders to US interrogators and should be held responsible for that.
4 - handyguy
It's possible, Bliffle. But even if some find that too much like a conspiracy fantasy to believe, it's clear from the film that the bewildered and stressed soldiers at Abu Ghraib and at the prison in Afghanistan certainly thought that what they were doing had been blessed by superiors going up several levels.
And many people unfortunately agree with Cheney that in a dangerous world we have to lose some of our inhibitions, like the torture taboo. It's a slippery slope.