‘You can’t win a case if you don’t believe your own shit…’
The Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba is as close to a horror film as real life gets. The mere mention of its names induces a feeling of unease that is almost unparalleled in the modern world. This is a place where terrible, unspeakable things happen every day. Not in some kind of backwards, third world savage land, but by the orders of that glorious utopia, the United States of America. The land of the free. It is a stain on humanity that such a place exists at all, but it is also a reflection of the tumultuous times in which we live. The Mauritanian takes us deep inside Guantanamo, deeper than any other film really has, and what we find there is not something to be taken lightly…
Having been in Gitmo for seven years without charge, suspected terrorist Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) is given a glimmer of hope when crusading attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and her dogged assistant Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) take over Slahi’s case. Prosecuting for the US government is experienced and decorated US army Colonel Stuart Couch (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Now, obviously this is a sensitive subject. You can have all the courtroom drama that you want, and The Mauritanian has plenty, but the elephant in the room will always be the various acts of horrific torture and abuse carried out by the US government against Mohamedou Slahi over a number of years. For director Kevin McDonald, the question was how to translate this awful but relevant part of the story to the big screen. For the first half of the movie, the abuse is kept in the shadows, it looms over everything, but it’s never really the full focus of the film. Instead, McDonald mostly limits the more harrowing aspects of Slahi’s stay in Gitmo to one disorientating scene in which the full horrors of the whole sorry affair are laid bare. This considered approach pays off in spades as The Mauritanian always feels respectful of its subject matter rather than exploitative.
McDonald could do as much hand wringing and research as he wanted behind the camera, but without a decent cast, the whole thing could easily have fallen apart. Luckily, Rahim is excellent throughout as the titular Mauritanian and he is flanked by a pair of strong performances from the always reliable Foster and Cumberbatch. This is a team effort, and the experienced cast work together to do justice to what is a truly nightmarish story.
I have absolutely no idea how Minari was nominated for Best Picture over the The Mauritanian, but there is no denying that the latter is the better movie. Essential cinema.