Konterr
Brilliant and touching
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Scarlet
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
lastliberal
This film uses chapter breaks and comic book-style illustrations to highlight the amusing, astonishing, and horrifying absurdity of its central tale: that of an Iraqi that was taken prisoner based upon false information. The same duo that borough us Gunner Palace, a look at the Iraq invasion from the eyes of an American soldier, now presents a view from the Iraqi side in this indie film nominated for an American Spirit Award.Now, one may tend to discount the testimony of an Iraqi about innocence or the conditions at the prisons, or the treatment by interrogators, but the fact is that there is overwhelming documentation written by U.S. military in high positions attesting to the fact that up to 90% of the prisoners had no intelligence values and were "simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." These same military officers also knew of the inhumane conditions in the prisons and the fact that basic sanitation was lacking, and that the contractor-supplied food was rancid and infested and caused the prisoners to vomit and experience diarrhea after they ate. This would be obvious to anyone who saw the prisoners as they had all lost weight.The treatment of the Iraqis as documented in this film brings shame upon all Americans as we are the ones who allow those responsible to remain in office.
adhamiya
This film is a sequel of sorts to "Gunner Palace" the Iraq film that came out in 2005. Much like that film, The Prisoner is not overtly political, rather, it lets the characters tell the story. In Gunner Palace, the perspective is the American soldier. In The Prisoner, the perspective is largely Iraqi. The films should be watched together to fully appreciate.I don't want to give away too much, but I can say that you walk away from this film feeling like you know an Iraqi and have a new sense of just how much the Iraqi people suffered--both under Saddam and during this conflict. The film is also surprisingly funny and it should come with a disclaimer that gives the audience permission to laugh. It would be funny if it wasn't true!As we enter the 5th year of the war, more people need to see films like this. I would also suggest reading the director's back-story in Vanity Fair at http://www.theprisoner.us.
info-11552
I just saw the film at a sneak preview screening in New York where we did not know what we were seeing. It's not the kind of film I would normally see, but I found that Mr. Abbas' story opened my eyes to what average Iraqis have suffered in this war. More, his story--and the charges against him--would be extremely funny if were not for the fact that they are true. Yes, US intelligence thought he was plotting to kill Tony Blair. How they thought he was supposed to do that (the only evidence they found was a bottle of shampoo!) is beyond me. The real shocker in the film is just how bad the conditions in Abu Ghraib were. The army admits now that up to 80% of the 1000s of prisoners there were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I also agree with the previous poster that the comic imagery is a surprise, but it does work. The whole story reads like a comedy of errors--complete with cartoonish villains.
oknotok
I wholeheartedly agree with the review by 'pm-84' above. Who cares how many innocent Iraqis have to be treated sub-humanly and imprisoned for months on end? So long as Iraq is safe for Tony Blair to visit for a few hours when he feels like it, the war has been a success. The film focuses on the imprisonment of Iraqi journalist Yunis Abbas, after his family home is raided by US forces who have received intelligence that Yunis is planning to bomb Tony Blair. As 'pm-84' correctly points out, however, the real victim is Tony Blair. Everywhere Tony Blair goes, there may be people who want to do him harm. How are we to know who those people are until we imprison them for 9 months?Despite their highlighting of the dangers faced by our brave Leaders, the filmmakers erred in showing sympathy to the enemy in a time of war, so for this I docked them one mark. 9/10.
