The Road to Guantánamo | Review

Duo document trio’s tale from hell and back.

Symbolically addressing the U.S government’s anxiety at losing the title as the world’s hegemonic force, The Road to Guantanamo is a behind the fence look at the U.S military’s gross misconduct handling of Iraq-war prisoners. Via the point of view of the sort of folks that were at the butt-end of puny solider poses in front of a Polaroid, directors Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross bring the experience of having one’s human rights violated. Such as how the government bullies their trade partners and neighboring nations, this harrowing film shows how such force can break bones but not spirits and showcases an escape destination under the sun that you won’t find in travel brochures.

On the promise of crazy-sized Naan bread and a smidgeon of adventure, the nicknamed “Tipton three” from the U.K go on the equivalent psycho-trip that reminds of the helplessness found in a film like Midnight Express. While the film may come across as sensationalist journalism it may only maginify how American news sources initially turned a blind eye and followed the administration’s bandwagon after 9/11. Being at the wrong place at a wrong time can’t be emphasized enough for this particular trio of knuckleheads, but the film as a whole is perfect timing as the famed prison camp is a major headline maker as of late. While it may just be a question of sending the hundreds of orange jumpsuits to another location and closing shop for public’s view, the film’s relevance and the daily indignations that is magnified in the narrative can only bring more people to question their perception of the types of activities and high-ranking decisions that unfold behind closed doors.

What materializes ultimately sounds like an awful comedy spec B-movie idea, but while it’s clear that these young men (like many others before and after them) made a bad choice on par with stupid drunken blunders that are a daily occurrence at American college student spring break parties, it comes nowhere near the many bad decisions (the public-relations disaster of the Iraq war or the anti-Geneva conventions-like conditions and gross misconduct that occurs at the famed Gitmo) from the U.S administration.

Like a weekend sports news reel featuring the best plays in of the week, Winterbottom and Whitecross’ dramatize the experiences of these young men compressing the most noteworthy shock-moments of this mind-boggling imprisonment. The digital aesthetic approach for the pic combined with the talking-head testimonials summons a part documentary and part docudrama feel thus furthering the sometimes humorous re-enactment scenes and reconstruction of events. Where the filmmakers place their social commentary chips is by continually posing the question of what does the enemy look like?

A look back at his most recent log of films demonstrates that Winterbottom releases more films than your average filmmaker and while his rapid execution from conceptualization to realization might sometimes cut corners he remains true to expressing himself in whatever form that may seem best accommodating. Though it lacks further insight into the subject matter, this winner of the Silver Bear at Berlin film festival de-stabilizes the senses. Chalk The Road to Guantanamo as required viewing material, the sort that will leave viewers leaving the theatre feeling exasperated, uprooted and enraged – always a sign of a job well done.

Rating 3.5 stars