12 Feb The Mauritanian Review
THE MAURITANIAN
dir. Kevin Macdonald, starring Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley
Based on the 2015 memoir Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Salahi, The Mauritanian is the true story of Salahi’s experience of being held for fourteen years without charge in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
In the wake of 9/11, one of the most traumatic events in the United States’ history, cooler heads did not prevail which lead to swift reprisals, harried judgement, and unfortunately, a swath of human rights violations, some of which still occur to this day. To that end, we’re introduced to Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a citizen of Mauritania who, after becoming a person of interest to the American Intelligence Community, willingly turns himself in so that he can clear his good name. Salahi would go on to spend 14 years detained in Guantanamo Bay, held without counsel, without bail, and without ever being charged with a crime. Defense Lawyer Nancy Hollander takes on the habeus corpus recourse to prove Salahi is being held unlawfully. Opposite that, Marine lawyer Stuart Couch represents the prosecution, as he aims to ensure Salahi is sentenced to death for his possible participation in the tragedy. The Mauritanian is just one story of American atrocities committed in the name of freedom.
The bright standout in the film is actor Tahar Rahim, portraying the titular Mauritanian in question. Rahim’s affable charm makes him easy to like in the film, making the revelation of the treatment he endured even more painful to experience. In these scenes Rahim is a force to behold as Mohamedou is tortured incessantly by Marines over the course of months in a brutal attempt to elicit information. Jodie Foster also turns in a worthy performance as scrappy and persistant lawyer Nancy Hollander. Shailene Woodley and Zachary Levi deliver as well, but with minimum screentime, their presence is hardly felt. Benedict Cumberbatch, playing the opposing antagonist to Jodie Foster, does a lot with a little, affecting a regionless southern accent to pay respect to Lt. Col. Stuart Couch. Without as much screen time as Foster or Rahim, Cumberbatch makes the most of it, transitioning from determined to frustrated to outright appalled.
Kevin Macdonald directed The Mauritanian with the ease of a veteran; eliciting strong performances, setting a steady and consistent tone, and paced smoothly enough that the 129 minute runtime flies by. Macdonald, who made his marks directing documentaries, brings a similar sensibility while chronicling Salahi’s story, using clever flashbacks to reveal information and show the slow passage of time while Salahi was detained. The intercuts between each camp as one seeks to give Salahi the death penalty while the other scrambles to free him feel natural, switching between stories at deft times without derailing the narrative flow of either. Deciding to focus on the build to the trial and not the trail itself, Macdonald showcases both the humanity of Salahi as well as the horrors of Guantanmo Bay without being overly perverse.
Overall, The Mauritanian is an intriguing entry into the legal drama genre, one that manages to hold the attention without the showcase or theatrics of the trial itself. Tahar Rahim’s shining performance anchors the movie and pays respect to the actual Mohamedou Ould Salahi that gives a face to the faceless hundreds that have been detained within Guantanimo Bay’s holding cells. While the film is just one of dozens of stories centered on or around 9/11, this is one of the few that at least attempts to put a face to those who may have been inadvertently swept up in the swift backlash of America’s response. The Mauritanian will stream on Amazon Prime on April 1st.
Review by Darryl Mansel
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