The Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross. Released by Revolution Films 2006 on DVD Reviewed by Tami Peterson The Road to Guantanamo was commissioned by and shown on Channel 4 in March followed by an immediate internet and DVD release Winterbottom and Whitecross tell the story of Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Ruhal Ahmed - the "Tipton Three" - from their trip to Pakistan for a friend's wedding, to a rather naive stop in Afghanistan immediately before the US/UK bombardment there in late 2001.
They end up in a van going the wrong direction and get further into the Afghan countryside instead of Pakistan where they had wantea to relurn, losing one of their friends in the process who they would never see again.
The brutality of the bombardment is shown in gory detail with actual footage of bodies interspersed with parts that make up the film re-enactment
Winterbottom doesn't allow those who may have supported the Afghan invasion off the hook as he portrays this and the brutality of the Northern Alliance once prisoners are captured - at one point shooting holes In a melal carrier wnere pris oners can scarcely breathe, murdering many in the process.
The (unfortunately) familiar story ensues with US military personnel, with the support of complacent British officials, taking control of the prisoners, practicing torture tactics and trying to mentally break people by threatening their families, saying their friends had informed and so on. It is one of the tragic parts of the film that it would be an unbelievable and seemingly unthinkable fictional world, if we didn't already know these things to be true.
Once in Guantanamo, the torture connues wild Dear ings and interrogations where the same questions are asked over and over.
Prisoners are locked in stress positions for hours on end while heavy metal music blasted into their cells and they are forced to urinate and defecate on themselves.
The Quran is thrown into urinals, kicked and thrown on the ground and prisoners are beaten for attempting to pray.
Of course this particular story has a happier ending than most.
However, it is the chilling voiceover at the end that reminds us that some 500 prisoners are still being kept in Guantanamo, none ever formally charged with a crime - let alone terrorism, that gives this film not only its lasting resonance, but its importance as a reminder of the atrocities being carried out daily at the behest of the US and UK governments. • For more information see www.cageprisoners.com • To watch the film on-line http://www.channel4.com/fil m/newsfeatures/microsites/G /guantanamo/download.html