The Mauritanian

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As I wrote in countless other reviews of the same genre, I mostly enjoy movies "based on a true story" since these almost always accomplish my main expectations: to be enlightened on an event or subject matter I didn't know (much) about. The real-life story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi was obviously unknown to me at the time of this viewing, but The Mauritanian does a great job in telling his shocking, insane, unbelievable life at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The existence of this outside-the-law prison still baffles me to this day. Two decades into the XXI century and humanity still finds a way of immorally and illegally destroying the mos...

Based on the New York Times best-selling memoir Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, The Mauritanian tells the true story of a man who spent 14 years of his life imprisoned without charges at the notorious United States military detention facility. The film is a standard legal drama that focuses more on the man and his case rather than the atrocities that were levied against him. It still reinforces what most of us already know: Gitmo was a terrible, terrible place.

Detained on the suspicion that he was connected to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Slahi (Tahar Rahim) was held by the U.S. government for over a decade. Wanting a challenge, social justice attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodl...

Emotionally powerful thanks to the great actors (especially Rahim) and with a gripping true story, The Mauritanian exceeds expectations, even if the overall film could have been a bit more polished.

9/10

Tahar Rahim and Kevin MacDonald have come some way since their first collaboration on "the Eagle" (2011). This one sees the former - Mohammed Ould Slahi - incarcerated, without charge, by the American authorities in Guantánamo Bay. His case comes to the attention of attorney Nancy Hollander (Jodie Foster) and together with her colleague Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) they fight tooth and nail to secure his release. Benedict Cumberbatch is their opponent, the formidable and honourable Col. Crouch, and as the story unfolds both parties begin to appreciate the extent of the atrocities being carried out. Rahim is super. His portrayal demonstrating startlingly well the extremes of human endurance - of body and spirit - as Hollander works tireles...