On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 12:52 PM, Zeenath Hasan <zeenath.ha...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The gaze of the docu-viewer & maker need not be in alignment for the > documentary to be able state a position on a shared yet multi-vocal concern, > which is not to say that non-conflictual perspectives are requisite to the > successful rendition of a contentious issue. So fish-heads and tails might > be favored portions, however the flaw is not in the presentation of the > content itself, but in the gaze of the content-maker -- from the perspective > of the content-reader. > > The narrative logic of Darwin's Nightmare treats situations prevalent in the > Lake Victoria region to present the concept of globalization in its bleak > occurrences. The viewer does not have to see that the very plane that > brought the very guns raged a conflict zone in that region to surmise the > havoc wreaking impact of the non-ecological transnational flow of goods. > The gaze of the documentary maker must be truthful to start with. The film delves on very many typical cliches from africa, among them :- the russian arms dealer, the evil indian, the destitute african, the african who is as willing to take a life as letting out a sneeze, prostitutes for $10, people living on $1 a day etc... If you were not aware of these cliches, then maybe you might feel enlightened by this documentary. There is no evidence provided for arms trafficking in fish transporters, just a vague suggestion of it during what looks like a staged scene . There is also a scene of a young boy wandering around a garbage bin looking for something to eat, he is shown wearing a t-shirt with a skeleton on it. One of the production grips on this film told me that the director told the boy to wear the boy to wear that t-shirt ! In reality most probably very few arms actually get transported in fish carrying planes, since there are far easier avenues and ways to access arms. Fundamentally the film isn't truthful about itself, its intentions or its conclusions. There was nothing new that i learnt from this film.
