Global Film Review

“Bringing Down a Dictator” is a testament to the human spirit.
It chronicles the actions of a grassroots movement called Otpor! (Serbian for “Resistance”) that miraculously brought Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic out of power.
The organization of Otpor! was ingenious because there was no central command, no official leaders.
What they accomplished in a year’s time was incredible, especially given their adherence to nonviolent civil disobedience.
What is also amazing is how the many party leaders looking to replace Milosevic agreed to back one man, Vojislav Kostunica, who was elected president in 2000.
“Bringing Down a Dictator” does a wonderful job of showing the inner workings of Otpor! and the way it attracted people from all walks of life and from all over the country.
The group arose from the massive bombing of Yugoslav targets in 1999 by NATO forces to punish Yugoslavia – meaning Milosevic – for the policy of ethnic cleansing in the mostly Albanian province of Kosovo.

While the documentary is dated (it was released in 2002), its exhibition of a nationwide peaceful uprising is timeless. It is about an hour long and is narrated by Martin Sheen.
The movement was largely made up of young people, the older members being in their 20s.
In part financed by European nations and the United States, Otpor! members saturated polling places in the October 2000 elections to ensure free and fair elections.
When Milosevic (who had lost the election) refused to accept the results at the polls, a nationwide general strike was called and life in Yugoslavia ground to a halt.
What is so remarkable in “Bringing Down a Dictator” is how humane the uprising was – the demonstrators were urged to not provoke police but to view them as fellow victims of a corrupt regime.
Also, Milosevic and his cronies were holdovers from the Cold War who had been Soviet-styled communists (now called socialists). He was accustomed to fraudulent elections and crooked, sometimes brutal, means to maintain his hold on power.
One of the things “Bringing Down a Dictator” shows is how out of touch Milosevic was, especially when it came to the country’s youth.
Marching and carrying signs that said “He’s finished!” the Yugoslavs converged on the parliament building in an emotional demonstration of people power.
Milosevic died in 2006 while awaiting trial by the ad hoc Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
“Bringing Down a Dictator” is available on DVD.

What James Longley has attempted in “Iraq in Fragments” is to provide a documentary without narration. He tries to let his subjects tell their stories in a way that is both revealing and intimate.

However, on the whole, the film fails to illuminate for the audience what is happening in occupied Iraq.

Longley has missed the forest for the trees.

The first segment (of three) shows a young boy named Mohammed who is far behind in school and who works as a mechanic.

His is a very touching story and is almost Dickensian. But, as much as the viewer begins to care about Mohammed, he could be a boy anywhere on Earth.

The closest Mohammed’s story come to being political is when his boss and other adults talk about the occupation over coffee.

Part two of the film deals with the Shiite south of Iraq, where many believers in Moqtada Sadr push for regional elections and to impose their style of Islamic law.

The effect of seeing alcohol vendors being abducted and punished brings home the idea of what Sadr’s Mehdy Army militia want to make of Iraq.

The third part is all about Kurds and their decades-long dream of an independent Kurdistan in the country’s north.

Again Longley aims for the personal side of the story as he follows another young man whose father wants him to become a religious person but who wants to be a doctor someday.

And again we hear people discuss the occupation, the lives they led before and after Saddam Hussein and what they believe is in store for them.

While at times touching and poignant, “Iraq in Fragments” is at best an ancillary film to true documentaries (or even nightly news stories) about the nation and what it faces in the future.

Without commentary, this film fails to bring the three slices of Iraqi life together as a whole.

Perhaps that’s what Longley was looking for all along.

The animated film “Persepolis” was nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature for 2007.

And with good reason.

The film centers on a young girl coming of age in a turbulent time in Iran.

The overthrow of the shah, the subsequent takeover by the mullahs and the war with Iraq (which killed about 1 million people) are all things that happen during the maturation of the girl into a woman.

“Persepolis” is an autobiographical account of life in Iran by author Marjane Satrapi, who wrote two graphic novels on which the film is based.

Satrapi has teamed up with comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud to create an animated feature the style of which remains authentic. The way Satrapi and Paronnaud approach the film is to be true to those graphic novels. The style is sparse and, subsequently, more appealing to all who view it because of its universality.

While not an overtly political movie, the events that happen in Iran have a profound effect on Satrapi, who bristles when she comes in contact with the ubiquitous morality police. She finds ways to snub the theocracy by removing her veil or listening to western bands like the Bee Gees, ABBA and Iron Maiden.A curious girl, Satrapi listens to stories from friends and relatives about their time in prison under the shah. Somehow, despite the fact that these are horrific acts of torture, she retells them matter-of-factly.

When things get dicey for Satrapi’s parents, who are communists, they send her to Europe where she can study safely.
Once away from home, Satrapi finds she is at home nowhere – not in Iran, not in Europe. She returns to Iran but finds the social atmosphere stifling.

One person she connects with and who has much humor and wisdom is Satrapi’s grandmother who reminds Satrapi who she is when she loses her way.

“Persepolis” works on many levels and is sure to please most audiences – it has humor, warmth and characters for whom the audience can feel sympathy. There is also a revolution and a war as the backdrop which heightens the drama of Satrapi’s personal journey.

She also recalls her time as a child with some fondness and much humor. In telling her story, Satrapi could be a girl anywhere in the world and dispels the notion that we are so different from each other that we can never achieve understanding or peace.

Now on DVD, “Persepolis” is in French with English subtitles.
The author can be reached at lojano@comcast.net

Darfur is a nightmare.

The western area of Sudan, Africa, which is the size of France, is home to about six million people.

As many as 200,000 people have been killed and another 2.5 million displaced.

That’s where the documentary “Darfur Now” begins.

Director Ted Braun tackles genocide in Darfur, showing the perspectives of six people regarding the situation. They are Dr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, an Argentine native serving as the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague, where he investigates Sudanese leaders as war criminals; Adam Sterling, the director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, which seeks to get U.S. states to divest funds in Sudan; Ecuadorian Pablo Recalde, head of the World Food Program in West Darfur, who faces constant danger trying to get food to the needy people in the region; Hejewa Adam, who has joined an armed rebel group to defend the Fur people and fight the Janjaweed and government forces (the Janjaweed, which translates as “devils on horseback,” are bands of militia who terrorize villagers in Darfur); Ahmed Mohammed Abakar, who fled his village and who now is the leader at a refugee camp in Hamadea, where about 50,000 displaced people live; and actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney, who use their star power to effect change in policies in places like China and Egypt, two countries with deep ties to Sudan.

Each person is trying to end the conflict in Darfur in his or her own way and both the passion and compassion of the six comes through clearly.

The film was begun with a grant from Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.

“Darfur Now,” which only brought in about $64,000 at the box office, is informative and brings the audience into the region right away.

Braun lets the camera linger on people who talk about atrocities they have suffered or have witnessed.

One thing the director should be praised for is not relying on shocking, brutal images to get the point across. Where another may have relied on disaster pornography, Braun takes the high road and allows sobbing or angry people tell their stories without the gore.

And while “Darfur Now” does devote some time to representatives of the Sudanese government — which claims it is fighting rebel forces in Darfur and blames the refugee problem on drought — it is clear the filmmaker believes what is happening is genocide.

This film goes a long way at examining man’s inhumanity to man and terror tactics employed by those in power.

It is also a testament to the power of the human spirit, the ability of individuals to make change happen for the good.

“Darfur Now” is available on DVD.

The author can be reached at lojano@comcast.net