Revolution #52, June 25, 2006

Check It Out: The Road to Guantanamo

The Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross, is the terrifying first-hand account of three British citizens who were held for two years without charges in the American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Known as the “Tipton Three” in reference to their hometown in Britain, the three were eventually returned to Britain and released, without having any formal charges ever made against them at any time in their ordeal.

The film, part documentary, part re-enactment, shows the horrendous conditions in Guantanamo as the three describe their ordeal at the hands of American and British intelligence, who were determined to get them to confess their nonexistent links to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, while the brutal scenes are reenacted onscreen.

Two of the actors and two of the ex-detainees were detained and interrogated at the airport by the British police when they returned from the Berlin Film Festival where the movie got the Silver Bear award. According to BBC, one of the actors was asked if he intended to make any more political films.

The Motion Picture Association of America, the group that gives ratings to movies censored the poster that the producers of the film intended to use for publicity for its U.S. release. The poster depicts a prisoner in chains with a hood over his head.

The film opens June 23 in New York, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and Washington, DC, and in more cities on July 7.

 

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