the war on democracy

tonight was the opening night of the latest film from australian john pilger
which apparantly is his first feature film after a career-defining 55 television documentaries
it was a green's party fund-raiser and as such i was happy to be part of the crowd
we had the nsw green party senator kerry nettle speak briefly before the film
she gave us a bit of an insight into the film and had an appropriate dig at our own government
for continuing to support the american government in it's relentless march to global domination
the film opened with the man's name big and bold in the opening credits
and then the man himself is on screen and introducing the subject matter of this his latest film
which is about south and central america and the struggles there against the u s backed dictatorships
no punches are pulled as the u s is described as the (insert word of choice) 'empire'
much of the first part of the film is spent profiling modern day venezuala
there are some contrasting scenes of the homes of the ultra-rich thanks to huge oil revenues
and the multitude of ghetto-like buildings clinging to steep hillsides in and around the capital of caracas
in a similar contrasting fashion jp interviews some of the people of both classes
we very easily laugh at the arrogance and naivety of the elites (we know there is an enemy in their midst)
and then become empathetic to the struggles and grievances of the poor
the trump card for the film is a one on one interview with hugo chavez the hero of venezuala
jp is seen quite a lot on screen and no less so in this interview positively glowing with respect in his pristine suit and tie
a casually dressed hugo chavez jokes about his basic english skills - do you warnt a cip of corfee?
he talks about his own upbringing and vision for his people that is being embraced and supported by the people
we see this vision in action with footage of free education and health care
the film also details the failed coup of 2002 in which a u s backed dictator briefly assumed power
until a revolt by the people and a turning of the military returned chavez to power
as you would expect jp has no access to any leaders of the u s empire or players of significance
so relies on archive footage of past presidents nixon, reagan, and bush 1 and 2
and the laughable response of ex cia operatives to provide the other side of the story
but this becomes no more than entertainment value as the interviewees come across as bumbling idiots
and our interviewer comes across as the white knight merely seeking the truth
the spotlight then shifts to other countries in the 'back yard' of america
guatelama, cuba, san salvador, and nicaragua are not visited but talked about
as evidence of the meddling hand of u s imperalism in previous decades
more time is spent on chile with a quite long historical perspective
featuring the u s backed assassination of salvador allende on september 11, 1973
we learn that chile today is a much more settled and prosperous country
but it is implied that this is because the empire wants it that way for the moment
interestingly there is no mention of new-ish female president michelle bachelet
which seemed to me to be a bit of a gap in proceedings
bolivia however is treated in similar reverence as venezuala with chavez compatriot evo morales in power
in summary i found the film to be informative and well presented
though at times i found myself thinking i was watching a tv documentary on the big screen
but then more stunning footage of slums or plains or mountains would appear
that would be quite diminished in impact on the smaller screen
and the final word...
hugo chavez to john pilger - i see you soon
heroes