Tortured

All Interactive

R4 DVD

Tortured is quite an amazing film, filled with intrigue, suspense and a psychological intensity you will not forget. With a title like “Tortured” you may worry you are in for a horror experience filled with unnecessary gut wrenching violence, however this is actually a surprisingly thought provoking film. Certainly, the central nexus of the tale is the torture of a suspect to extract information and while this has a certain level of brutality, compared to what is shown in many films today the violence is moderate and a lot is implied. The focus is really on the psychological aspects of the interaction between the torturer and the tortured.

Cole Hauser is FBI Agent Kevin Cole, he is the son of a powerful bureau chief (James Cromwell). Following in his father's footsteps he wants to make it his own way and has already had a stint in Afghanistan when he enters the FBI covert operations division. His task is to infiltrate America's most dangerous crime syndicate which is lead by “Ziggy”, a man who has been in hiding for many years . Other agents who have tried to infiltrate the organization have not made it past first base and most have ended up tortured and killed.

To even get to Ziggy is a major achievement. Cole is beaten and tortured to prove his metal and then given his first task. He is assigned to use all his skills on syndicate accountant Archie Green (Laurence Fishburne), who is accused of stealing ten million dollars from Ziggy. For seven days he tortures Green, unleashing all manner of techniques including brutally removing all his nails. Along the way Cole becomes more and more disturbed by what he is doing on behalf of the FBI. The film moves back through the investigation and shows the cost in human life for him to get to where he now is and the moral choices Cole has made in the investigation, many which have cost human lives. The pressures of the investigation cost him his girlfriend and his is more than disturbed to find that his father was involved in an earlier infiltration of Ziggy's syndicate which ended in the death of Ziggy's only daughter.

It is at this stage that the film really moves into quite a fascinating climax. We realize that Archie Green is already dead and that Ziggy is the one being tortured. He has spent years setting up this trap to kill Cole in retribution for the death of his daughter. He has been willing to undergo seven days of torture just to manipulate a situation where he can face off against Cole and his father.

While tortured is an admirable and impressive detective tale, it is actually far more. It is a study of how torture compromises the perpetrator as well as the victim. There is a superb moment when Cole tells Ziggy he is pleased that he tortured him and Ziggy responds “no, I tortured you”. This is the essence of this film that by being driven to acts of extreme inhumanity we become dehumanized ourselves. Of course, this has lots of relevance today in the current political climate and through a fictional story, brings the debate about torture post 9/11 into view. Is torture ever justified ? Even if the victims are criminals and murderers, what effect does it have on the perpetrator/investigator who undertakes it and more importantly does it diminish the legal institutions which allow it ?

This is a fascinating film, thought provoking, intelligent, brilliantly acted and presents a fascinating glimpse of what can happen in a criminal investigation when the end becomes the justification for the means.

This review will appear in Volume 2:1 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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