The Mauritanian

Discuss movies (including free films)
Post Reply
Message
Author
helenecolin
You Only Live Twice
You Only Live Twice
Posts: 78
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:45 am
Old post count: 0
Preferred Cinemas: BFI IMAX, Odeon Leicester Square, Odeon Swiss Cottage
Location: London

The Mauritanian

#1 Post by helenecolin » Tue Jun 01, 2021 4:16 pm

Another movie I was lucky to watch as an online premiere for the 2021 Glasgow Film Festival. Based on the NY Times best-selling memoir "Guantánamo Diary" by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, this is the true story of Slahi's fight for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S. Government for years.

The cast was absolutely beautiful. Jodie Foster as defense attorney Nancy Hollander was truly amazing, every scenes her character commanded our attention, she was focused and determined, in short I couldn't imagine anyone better to play that part. Tahar Rahim as Mohamedou Ould Slahi was a revelation to me! I can't even process what Slahi went through in real life but the simple fact that Rahim was not just willing to put himself in such a vulnerable place mentally and physically for a role, but went above and beyond so it was as close to the truth as possible... wow, just wow! It's their job, I get that, but what the U.S Government did to Slahi to force him to confess alleged links he never had (it might not have been physical torture, but they messed up with him mentally for sure), it's not something anyone would be ok to go through, even if you're just "playing pretend"... At least, that how I feel. The rest of the cast is good enough for their part, Benedict Cumberbatch plays a decent prosecutor (I'm crap at accents, so I can't really judge his skills), Shailene Woodley is a bit flat as Jodie's associate, but to be fair to her, Jodie is Jodie, and the associate wasn't a very prominent character. All in all the casting was well chosen I think.

The movie is already available on Amazon Prime if anyone wants to give it a try. Friendly note though, some scenes, especially towards the end, can be quite triggering. So take that into account before clicking play. As an empathetic person I was extremely uncomfortable during them and had to avert my eyes many times just because it was becoming too much.

Post Reply