“Taxi to the Dark Side” (9 p.m., HBO): “Taxi to the Dark Side”~ Absolutely
Wrenching"
Published:Monday, September 29, 2008
“Taxi to the Dark Side” (9 p.m., HBO): “Taxi to the Dark Side” is a wrenching
documentary with heavy relevance for Election Year 2008 and beyond. The title
refers to an innocent young Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar who was killed
while being held in Bagram prison in 2002. And it refers to a statement from
Vice President Dick Cheney a few days after the 9/11 attacks: “We also have to
work the dark side, if you will,” he said, describing U.S. strategy for
bringing terrorists to justice. The film examines highly questionable
interrogation practices used by U.S. military guards on prisoners in Bagram,
Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Written, produced, directed and narrated by Alex
Gibney (“Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”), “Taxi to the Dark Side” won
the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and a 2007 Peabody Award,
among its many honors.
