Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Matylda Swan
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Destinationcritical-1
The short film itself was an interesting concept. Unlike normal films that are meant to tell a story this was a well constructed film to ask very basic fundamental question. Security or Liberty. It's Nothing new, "The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either." - Benjamin FranklinThis isn't some crackpot theory that conspiracy theorist are trying to pull on anyone. These are the same rights that Americans fought and died for this is there Consitution, laws that over the years citizens have taken for granted. This film might not be realistic but the idea behind the way it trys to show the viewer exactly what one can loose by giving up ones rights for freedom. If you were arrested today for any crime you could use the rigths that were given to you as citizen of your country with the exception of terrorists. Terrorists? what are they? you might come up with an image of a Muslim man as viewed in the film. But this is mistaken perception "the patriot act" doesn't say inclusive to only Muslims it says Anyone who is against the government plan.If you don't believe me then just goggle "The Patriot Act" actually read it, they don't hide anything truly Orwell would be rolling in his grave at this bill. Also if you can get a hold of a German History Text book, and read the laws in acted during pre-WW2 Nazi Germany Era, they created there own Patriot Act, and finally introduced the gestapo. Secret Police to arrest anyone who was Ploting against there own government. We are all in a world of trouble and the players involved at the highest levels are never what they seem. I suggest for anyone who is interested in learning somewhat of the real truth visit Question911.com they won't show any of this in the media.
Mark Bowen
I just watched this film (on European television), but didn't see from the very beginning what it was called. So I looked it up here on IMDb. "Strip Search" is a terrible title. What were they thinking? That I think is an example of what is wrong with the film. They have a story with a very interesting political premise, but they gave it some crap title more appropriate for a straight-to-video Shannon Tweed flick.Well, it IS an interesting premise, that the U.S. domestic response to 9/11 has brought the country closer in some respects to the police states it still publicly condemns. It is a premise with which I strongly agree. And the plot vehicle of playing the same dialogue in a U.S. and a Chinese prison was a very good idea. But it is all really poorly done.The biggest problem is the dialogue itself, which is clichéd. It really could have used a few rewrites. Surprising that it came from Tom Fontana, of the great "Homicide: Life On the Streets" TV series.The other problem is that except for Glenn Close and Maggie Gyllenhaal, the other actors are unable to rise above the hack dialogue. Ken Leung I thought was particularly bad. And in movies, the ultimate blame for poor performances has to be laid at the feet of the director, in this case the legendary Sidney Lumet. (But let's face it, Lumet hasn't made a truly great film since 1976's "Network" (1976), and not even a good film since 1988's "Running On Empty.") With the exception of the acting of Close and Gyllenhaal, the whole film feels like a hack job. The political message is hammered home with all the subtlety of a German jazz band, complete with inter-cut speeches about freedom and democracy from U.S. presidents, and a fadeout with statistics about U.S. detainees. Sheesh.Too bad, this could have been a thought-provoking film. It's so poorly done and overwrought that it just won't change anyone's mind.
jennifer-alicarty
This film begins in a classroom with a professor asking his students if it was acceptable to give up your rights for 1 day if the government could guarantee that it could get rid of terrorism. He then proceeds to ask the same question, but extending the time period from 1 day to 10 years.The director then examines two identical situations differing only in their location. The first scenario is of an American woman being hooded, and then abducted by Chinese security forces and then taken to an unknown location where she is asked some uncomfortable questions. The second scenario is of the same thing happening to an Arab man (they never really say which country he's from) being hooded and abducted and taken to an FBI building where he's questioned.This film is effective in asking the viewer whether the US wishes to fight any war in a manner similar to how Communist China (with no supposed civil freedoms) fights a War on Terror. Additionally, the viewer is asked whether civil liberties which have taken many decades of struggle to obtain and keep are so worthless that they can be discarded for any period of time. One of the most ironic parts of the movie is that the quote by Thomash Jefferson "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." is used by the Arab suspect in his political science thesis and then the FBI agent questioning him asks whether the use of this statement is a call to violent dissent.The problem with this film is that both scenarios use precisely the same dialog and this while initially effective gets pretty boring at the end. Also in pre-Abu Ghraib world people could be happy at the realism of the level of abuse that both parties experience, but we now know that a lot worse can and does happen.I can understand why this film isn't shown more in the US, no-one wants our country compared to Communist China, and certainly not at this time. Whether this is a valid point for not showing the film is debatable.
papa-28
Hi, Strip search was a good movie. It was right on point about how your civil rights can be abused by a overzealous government. But I want to point out another aspect of strip searches. I was sentenced to 15 years to life in a maximum security prison for a drug crime. The most inhumane treatment was that of strip searches. I painted a series on this subject which can be viewed athttp://www.15yearstolife.com/contraband.htmsummary of material -This body of work below was produced in 1995 in response to the dehumanizingnature of body cavity searches.INTENT OF THE ARTIST: To give the general public a view of the dehumanizing nature of the prison experience Coming back from a visit with his mother a sadistic guard ordered Papa to bend over and spread his ass cheeks on 3 occasions to look for contraband in his anal canal. No contraband was found after the first visual search. But the guard insisted that Papa continue to bend over. Papa asked the guard what he was looking for. After the third search Papa refused to cooperate asking the guard to call the supervising officer. The guard told him to get dressed and return to his cell. Papa then went to the law library to write a complaint and researched the issue. Papa discovered 20 pages of directives issued by the Department of Corrections on how guards should search the body cavities of prisoners. Papa was disgusted and decided to paint about this dehumanizing experience. He created automatic paintings and glued parts of the directives to them.The six pieces of work were then confiscated by the administration when Papa tried to send them to the free world... Best, Anthony Papa www.15tolife.com author of 15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom / Feralhouse
