TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE

Alex Gibney’s documentary Taxi to the Dark Side, analyzes the United State’s seemingly unprecedented policy on interrogation and torture of suspects after the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City. In the film, Dilawar, an Afghani taxi driver, a man considered honest and kind by all who knew him, died in a Bagram prison cell, only 5 days after his arrest. Using extreme detail on the case of Dilawar, Gibney exposes the brutality of the case and searches for the reasons to why it had even come to be. Through interviews with military officers, some in fact involved in the torture of Dilawar, Gibney invites his audience to question the mortality of American government and those in charge.

Gibney’s use of uncensored images alone, tells the story of the corruption found at prison camps, such as Guantanamo Bay. The film does an incredible job of placing the audience almost in the position of the soldiers involved in the horrible crimes. Similar to the Enron documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side, brings attention to the idea of corruption, and how power and authority can completely change the outcome of a particular situation. The film of course was much more difficult to watch than that of Enron, the Smartest Men in the Room. However, I felt that its impact was far greater than that of the latter. In my mind, I of course put some blame on those physically involved in Dilawar’s case, however, I can’t help but point a finger of blame to the Bush Administration for allowing and encouraging such practices to commence. American safety is of course an important feature for any US President, yet one can only wonder why the torture of an innocent civilian is necessary to ensure that.