Désigné coupable

I think The Mauritanian gives a very insightful look at the extent governments will go to coverup how the treat prisoners. Here in the United States and other countries around the world. Doing all that can be done to get false witness against anyone. The end does not justify the means, which is something brought to light in this movie. This is a true story from the story told in the book Guantánamo Diary, written by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. It tells of his experiences in Guantanamo Bay. Maybe one day we will learn to treat each others as humans and respect deserved until the facts are proven.

The movie gets its title from the GITMO inmate that is featured in this movie, based on a real person and his experiences. He is a Mauritanian.

The whole movie centers on one man's fate, he was arrested and accused in 2002 of being a key figure in the 9/11 attacks, but was detained for years without any charges. He was tortured to get him to confess.

Two supporting stories are told in parallel, frequently switching from one to the other. One is the military attorney charged with building a case to find him guilty and executed. The other is a New Mexico law firm defending him, not so much focusing on whether he was guilty or not, more on whether the USA constitution and laws were being followed.

Very interesting and very well made, the actors in the featured roles are all excellent, especially Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch.

I watched it at home on BluRay from my public library. My wife skipped.

Wow, really amazing and inspiring film. True story, Great acting and wonderful cinematography. Tahar Rahim must be nominated for the Oscars as best leading Actor!!

A lot of great talent make this a particularly riveting film. No punches are spared when it comes to how incompetent and inhumane Rumsfeld's policies were at Guantanamo. I criticized The Report for being too visceral in trying to make its point. This film had some very disturbing scenes as well but they were much more effective. You actually cared for the characters in the film. The Report and the Mauritanian make the same points, but where the Report was dry with little character development, The Mauritanian tells a fascinating personal tale.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) gets picked up by the Mauritanian police after 9/11. It's the start of his odyssey to Guantánamo Bay. Three years later, New Mexico defense attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) gets recruited to be his lawyer. She is joined by junior associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley). Meanwhile, Marine lawyer Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch) is recruited to be the prosecutor to give the prisoner a death sentence. He is eager for the job after losing a close friend in one of the planes. Former classmate Neil Buckland (Zachary Levi) is involved with the interrogation.

Director Kevin Macdonald delivers a clear-headed dissection of the case against Mohamedou who is known here as The Mauritanian. The power of this movie comes from a straight forward telling of his story. I am uncertain about portraying the torture but somehow it has to be laid down on film. I would consider a less direct approach to give the audience some space. There are a few lines of dialogue that I wish Nancy would say. The performances are beyond reproach. All in all, this is a powerful truth seeking missile of a film.