The movie ‘The Mauritanian’ is a legal-crime drama which is based on certain true events that have occurred in the life of Mohamedou oul slahi who is the main character in the movie. He wrote about his sufferings in Guantanamo Bay which is a place in Cuba in the form of a memoir which is titled “Guantanamo Diary”. It is one of the best-selling memoirs.
It was released on February 12 2021 in the United States and is available on Amazon Prime Video in India. The Mauritanian is directed by Kevin Macdonald and has Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, Shailene Woodley and Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead roles.
The movie is majorly based on the events that occurred in the life of Mohamedou oul slahi who was held for fourteen years at the Guantanamo detention camp by the United States military without a charge. The movie
primarily revolves around the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.
The Mauritanian is based on certain legal principles like how an individual is innocent until proven guilty and what are an individual’s rights once he is taken under arrest for something which he believes he has not done as well as around the concept of habeas corpus.
The Mauritanian also pays attention to the issue of unlawful detention of various innocent people who are not given appropriate chances to prove their non-involvement in the crime.
There are a lot of movies based on the issues of the US military’s treatment of war prisoners but this particular movie is unique in the sense that it’s a first-hand experience of the sufferings of a war prisoner Mohamedou oul slahi, who was asked to write about his sufferings by Nancy Hollander and this written memoir was one of the reasons for his discharge.
Plot of The Mauritanian
The Mauritanian opens with a scene at Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s home in Mauritania in 2001, where a function is taking place. During the event, officers from the Mauritanian police invite Mohamedou Ould Slahi for a brief meeting at their office, to which he agrees.
Little did he know that this decision would lead to his arrest by the US military, resulting in his detention for fourteen years. The arrest was based on allegations that he played a significant role as a recruiter for the 9/11 attacks, partly due to one of the hijackers having stayed at his place.
In 2005, a lawyer named Nancy Hollander learns about the issue of Guantanamo Bay and the unjust detention of people like Mohamedou Ould Slahi without any charges.
The government has requested filing a petition of Habeas Corpus for such cases. Nancy decides to take up Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s case pro bono, driven by her commitment to human rights. She enlists the help of Teri Duncan, another lawyer in her firm, to be co-counsel in the case.
Also Read: Rustom: 3 Shots That Shocked The Nation
Stuart Couch, whose friend was an officer killed in the 9/11 attacks, is assigned to lead the prosecution against Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Nancy and Teri visit Guantanamo Bay to meet Mohamedou Ould Slahi, and during their visit, they face restrictions such as wearing a hijab and not being allowed
to take notes with them.
During the interrogation, Mohamedou Ould Slahi shares details about his family, training with Al-Qaeda interrogators, and his interactions with Bin Laden’s satellite phone.
He denies ever meeting Bin Laden in person and explains that the money he received was for a friend’s sick father. Nancy believes that the testimony of another prisoner detained at Guantanamo Bay, a French national, could be crucial to Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s defence.
Stuart seeks access to the original interrogation notes (MFRs) to strengthen the case but faces challenges. Eventually, he gains access and discovers the harsh treatment Mohamedou Ould Slahi endured at Guantanamo Bay, including torture and coerced confessions.
In court, Mohamedou Ould Slahi testifies about his suffering and the torture he endured at the hands of the Joint Task Force. Despite winning the case and being ordered for discharge by the court after seven years, he remains in Guantanamo Bay for another seven years without any charges, highlighting procedural irregularities and systemic flaws in the justice delivery system that led to Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s prolonged suffering.
Characters
Nancy Hollander whose role is played by Jodie Foster portrayed the character of the legal counsel with ease and efficiency. Considering the importance of the role in the context of the movie it was really important for her to be at her best.
The character of Nancy Hollander was a strong independent woman who was a partner in one of the big US law forms. She was concerned with the basic human rights of accused people and was a great lawyer in the US legal scene.
She was concerned with a bigger cause that would happen if she wins Mohamedou’s case and that was the accountability of the US military concerning the illegal detention of various people like Mohamedou oul slahi without a charge in the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Though the character of Stuart Couch played by Benedict Cumberbatch is an important one in the movie. Yet the movie has given very little screen presence to him and his character is in some sort of delusion. Considering the fact that he was personally attached to the case of Mohamedou oul slahi, he agreed with the way to early give up on the prosecution after knowing about how the US military is forcing prisoners to agree to the crime with the usage of torture.
Mohamedou oul slahi’s role had a huge impact on me considering the torture he went through in the movie while at the prison, with all that happening to him in the course of the movie.
He played the character effortlessly though in some instances it felt as if the movie was exaggerating the happenings which did not look original such as the over-dramatization of the torture scene. He looked charismatic which was not something the movie of such a vital subject required but this can also have two contradictory opinions.
Jodie Foster’s role as Nancy Hollander and Tahar Rahim’s role as Mohamedou oul slahi are two of the strongest reasons to watch the movie due to their excellent and strong performance in the movie.
Title
Though the film is titled ‘The Mauritanian’, the film has very little or no portrayal of Mauritania which is a country in the continent of Africa. The only scene which had a little portrayal of the country was the first scene of th movie where Mohamedou oul slahi was having some function at his home and when the Mauritanian police asked him to come for some interrogation.
The title would have been more appropriate and related to the issue in the movie if it was titled the ‘Guantanamo Diary’ considering the name of the memoir and the relevance that the place has in the movie and various incidents that occur in the due course of the movie.
Shortcomings
The movie would have impacted a lot of audiences emotionally as well as morally if the incidents which had a depiction of torture to Mohamedou oul slahi would not be so soft or easy as was depicted in the movie.
After watching the movie it was also alleged by the real-life Mohamedou oul slahi that very little part of his suffering been shown in the movie to which the director says that considering that it was a legal movie, It was important for the movie to have a story rather the actual portrayal of the sufferings as mentioned in the memoir. The torture scenes looked as if they were dramatized or forcefully made to look real.
Further, it consists of two very important issues namely, the experience of Mohamedou oul slahi in Guantanamo Bay and the failure of political machinery which lead to his illegal detention for 14 years.
The Mauritanian was more concerned with the portrayal of everything in a short span of 2 hours that it felt as if the movie was pacing quickly and missing a lot of scenes which could have been vital for the story in case they existed. If the movie could have had more portrayal of courtroom scenes, it could have given it a more touch of an actual courtroom drama.
Conclusion
The Mauritanian although not an actual replica of the book “Guantanamo Diary” more or less revolves around the issue of illegal detention of people with respect to mere accused and without any charges or pieces of evidence.
The film is one of its kind considering the fact that it was not made to blame a particular kind of people but to bring into the limelight, the issue of procedural irregularities that exists which is still prevalent in every part of the world and not just the US.
The cast of the movie and the lessons that it tries to give are some of the strongest reasons to watch this movie. The movie’s story moves between the backstory concerning the main character slowly in the starting but then picks up the pace as you go through it. It’s one of the movies that a law student should definitely have on his watch list considering the importance of the legal concepts that are portrayed in the story.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please share this article if you enjoyed it. Also, you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, andPinterest to get more interesting articles.
Authored by Rachit Sharma, a 2nd year Student at National Law University Odisha.