Movie Review

Taxi to The Dark Side
Directed by Alex Gibney


To begin, Taxi to The Dark Side is a fantastic piece of propaganda. Dictionary.com defines propaganda as “information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.”, but this does not mean it’s a bad movie, nor does it mean that it’s not worth watching. I know when I hear the word propaganda, I can’t help but think of Joseph Goebbels masterminding every headline, or a photo leading the country into absolute darkness and destruction. But this is not always the case; we are exposed to propaganda only a daily basis. We like to call it marketing.
As far as it’s classification as a “documentary”, the film is a bit flawed. It makes broad statements that at best can be defined as conjecture, and treats them as facts. But as a propaganda piece, the movie has a very clear message, or agenda, and makes it’s case in a very well structured and organized manner.
I have to imagine that those who go to see this movie already have their minds made up on the subject matter presented in the film. Some may feel that the United State’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq have been so poorly conducted that several high ranking officials need to placed in prison. On the other end of the spectrum, others feel that questioning these issues only weakens our defenses against a very real enemy.
My thoughts are that people are doing themselves a great disservice if they were to allow Alex Gibney’s opinion and views to eclipse their own feelings about the use of “torture” when interrogating a suspected terrorist. But I do feel that his unparalleled storytelling abilities and the evidence he uses to support his opinion makes this one of the most important films made this year.

For more information and show times, contact The Colonial Theatre 610-917-0223 www.thecolonialtheatre.com

Posted by
Matthew Byrd