In 2001 four friends set off from their homes in Tipton, West Midlands, Birmingham, to travel to Pakistan to attend the wedding of their friend. Once in Pakistan they decide to travel into Afghanistan for a day or two to experience the country for themselves. Once there they notice an obvious change of mood and soon a bombing raid leaves them isolated but alive. The group they are in is picked up by armed me and transferred into the custody of US military who treat them all as if they are terrorists.
This is an intense and engaging film but it is one I had one or two big problems with. The nature of the story means the film is fascinating and easily held my interesting, providing a first-hand account of a camp that not even the UN are allowed to get. The film is impacting due to this and, even if you assume that the "Tipton Three" have exaggerated their story, the basics are still amazing enough. However, and this is not a failing of the film, it didn't shock me or rock my world. This says more about the world we live in rather than the film because although Peter Hain of the Labour cabinet said "I would prefer that it wasn't there and I would prefer it was closed" and Tony Blair calls Guantanomo an "anomaly" the place remains open. Most of us believe, nay, "know" that torture goes on in there and that the Americans have set up their own little world outside of all laws but yet it remains open. This means that the plight of the three is familiar and not as much of a revelation as it could have been this lessens the impact of the film through no fault of its own.
The problem I had with it early on was that it seemed slanted towards the three from the very start. Things would have been much better if the film had forced the three to address the very simple and reasonable question "wtf were you thinking heading into a war zone for an 'experience'". As it is the three tend to talk in unnatural sentences that sound scripted and clunky; sometimes they sound like real people but generally I didn't feel like they were in control of their narration which is a feeling I think the film desperately needed. Of course it is unfair to level too much criticism at them because really their impact is through their ordeals, not their delivery. In this regard the film works and deserves to be seen for the insight it provides.
As director Winterbottom is a diverse force and he does well with the feeling of place in the film that is convincing. However he can't get across the feeling of time; the film felt like the imprisonment was rapid and flowing, which in reality it was most certainly not. The cast are mostly good; some of the people in minor roles in the dramatisations are clunky but the majority are convincing. Overall this is a film worth seeing if only to provide you with an understanding of the real war on terror. Cleverly opening with the "the one thing we know is that these are all bad people" remark from Bush, the film strips this attitude away as the bullsh1t it is. It surprised me by how unshocking it was but this is more to the fact that sadly nowadays we just accept illegal behaviour of our Governments an approach shown by the ongoing existence of these camps. I would also have liked the film to be a bit more on the case of three rather than not questioning their total lack of judgement but despite this it was engaging and interesting. The downside of the whole thing is that you'll be left shaking your head wondering what the people in power actually have to do before they are removed shoot somebody themselves? Oh, no, at least one of them has already done that. Sleep well readers!
This is an intense and engaging film but it is one I had one or two big problems with. The nature of the story means the film is fascinating and easily held my interesting, providing a first-hand account of a camp that not even the UN are allowed to get. The film is impacting due to this and, even if you assume that the "Tipton Three" have exaggerated their story, the basics are still amazing enough. However, and this is not a failing of the film, it didn't shock me or rock my world. This says more about the world we live in rather than the film because although Peter Hain of the Labour cabinet said "I would prefer that it wasn't there and I would prefer it was closed" and Tony Blair calls Guantanomo an "anomaly" the place remains open. Most of us believe, nay, "know" that torture goes on in there and that the Americans have set up their own little world outside of all laws but yet it remains open. This means that the plight of the three is familiar and not as much of a revelation as it could have been this lessens the impact of the film through no fault of its own.
The problem I had with it early on was that it seemed slanted towards the three from the very start. Things would have been much better if the film had forced the three to address the very simple and reasonable question "wtf were you thinking heading into a war zone for an 'experience'". As it is the three tend to talk in unnatural sentences that sound scripted and clunky; sometimes they sound like real people but generally I didn't feel like they were in control of their narration which is a feeling I think the film desperately needed. Of course it is unfair to level too much criticism at them because really their impact is through their ordeals, not their delivery. In this regard the film works and deserves to be seen for the insight it provides.
As director Winterbottom is a diverse force and he does well with the feeling of place in the film that is convincing. However he can't get across the feeling of time; the film felt like the imprisonment was rapid and flowing, which in reality it was most certainly not. The cast are mostly good; some of the people in minor roles in the dramatisations are clunky but the majority are convincing. Overall this is a film worth seeing if only to provide you with an understanding of the real war on terror. Cleverly opening with the "the one thing we know is that these are all bad people" remark from Bush, the film strips this attitude away as the bullsh1t it is. It surprised me by how unshocking it was but this is more to the fact that sadly nowadays we just accept illegal behaviour of our Governments an approach shown by the ongoing existence of these camps. I would also have liked the film to be a bit more on the case of three rather than not questioning their total lack of judgement but despite this it was engaging and interesting. The downside of the whole thing is that you'll be left shaking your head wondering what the people in power actually have to do before they are removed shoot somebody themselves? Oh, no, at least one of them has already done that. Sleep well readers!