Taxi to the Dark Side

I've now seen all five of the films nominated for the Best Documentary Feature for the 2007 Oscars, the last one being the film that won, Taxi to the Dark Side. It's director, Alex Gibney, was also the executive producer of another nominee, No End in Sight (which I reviewed previously). Taken together, Gibney has pretty much defined the Bush misadventure in Iraq, with Taxi to the Dark Side focused on the use of torture.

Starting with the singular case of an Afghan tax driver, Dilawar, who was arrested by Afghan militia and sent to Bagram prison, and then died three days later after horrible mistreatment, Gibney then expands the focus to the overall use of torture throughout the U.S. military, at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. As with No End in Sight, the film is heavy on use of talking heads, but instead of getting people from Amnesty International or the like tut-tutting, he has remarkably gathered the men who served as the guards in the Dilawar case, many of whom served time for their crimes. He also interviews some government officials, notably Navy attorney Alberto Mora, a Bush appointee, who were vocally opposed to the outright violation of the Geneva convention.

It's hard to know what the largest stain the Bush administration will leave behind, but this may be it. It's clear that the approval for the use of torture, and other mistreatment of prisoners (such as forced masturbation) came from the top down. The captain in charge of Bagram was assigned to Abu Ghraib, and as of the filming was not removed, instead she was teaching at the interrogation school. The Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld troika should be tried as war criminals, but legislation signed by Bush will prevent that. It makes one hope that there is justice meted out in the next life.

As I said, I've seen all five nominees, and I have no problem with this film winning. But it begs the question, what makes a good documentary? Sicko, the offering from Michael Moore, was clearly the most entertaining. Operation Homecoming and War Dance were far more emotionally engaging, while No End in Sight and Taxi to the Dark Side were polemics with abundant information and effective editing. Frankly, any of them would have been a deserving winner.