Is The Mauritanian A 'White-Saviour' Movie? Jodie Foster Disagrees

The Mauritanian: Jodie Foster and Benedict Cumberbatch are defending their movie The Mauritanian against the critical reviews that are calling it a 'white-saviour movie'.

The film tells the story of a man imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. The man is not given a trial and yet imprisoned. He later finds allies in a defence attorney and her associate. The Mauritanian releases on Amazon Prime on the 2nd of April 2021 in India. The movie is actually based on the true story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who after 9/11 was tortured and imprisoned by the US without charge in Guantánamo for 14 years.

As the trailer is out, there has been a mix of opinions in the audience. Renowned film critic Brian Tallerico said about The Mauritanian, "centres on the white saviours of the captured prisoner instead of the prisoner himself… as Macdonald’s film ventures further into its revelations about torture and injustice, Salahi himself gets lost in the storytelling, tragically becoming another face in the crowd of abused prisoners."

To this review, Jodie Foster defended the film and told The Guardian, "I sort of get the point. But I just don’t think we live in that world, do we, of black-and-white goodies and baddies? If you really want someone to shout at, should we have Donald Rumsfeld do a walk-on? And Dick Cheney? Maybe even some people in the Obama administration?"

The movie has been directed by Kevin Macdonald. The film is said to be based on NY Times best-selling memoir "Guantánamo Diary" by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Defense attorney Nancy Hollander and her associate Teri Duncan come to know about Slahi and decide to help him. Together they fight for the justice of Slahi. Check out the trailer here -

Image Credits: The Mauritanian Trailer on Youtube