Has our very own Techwalla gone bad? Certainly not! Our one movie this week stars Matthew McConaughey, as a cop and contract killer. Our first NC-17 rated movie review of the year. It certainly deserves its rating, but is it one worth watching?
A provocative title indeed. Adapted from his book of the same name, Peter Navarro’s opinionated documentary works hard to get its point across.
Death by China sets out to convey its key message which is “…the problem facing America today is its increasingly destructive economic trade relationship with a rapidly rising China.”
The point is made several times early on in the film which ultimately ends up feeling a tad repetitive. The documentary works arduously to present data to support its various assertions that trade policies with China are inadequate, even negligent, but it is difficult to escape the sense that this movie is seeking simply to imbue the viewer with a sense of impending doom instead of presenting a balanced and informative perspective. Martin Sheen’s urgent narration combined with slick graphics depicting “Weapons of Job Destruction” (and the like) compound the problem – effectively turning Death by China, at times, into a cold war style propaganda film.
The movie draws interesting parallels between the bleak situation of American workers who have lost their jobs and the Chinese workers who have jobs but have little in the way of labor protection laws to prevent their exploitation. The filmmakers are unambiguous about who they hold responsible for the situation – the Chinese Government, along with the usual suspects of US politicians (of both persuasions) and the multinational corporations.
Death by China is a competently constructed documentary with a very defined point of view. Indeed, the passion of the filmmakers may even make you rally for political action if you are so inclined. If you are not, you may find the tone overwhelming.
Death by China opens this Friday, August 17 at Laemmle’s Playhouse 7 in Pasadena – Peter Navarro will be at the Playhouse 7 for Q&As on both Friday and Saturday – on Saturday following the 7:30PM show there will be a Q&A with special guests from the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Tibetan Dissident communities.
One could be forgiven for thinking that you are watching yet another Sacha Baron Cohen stunt on celluloid but, dare I say it, this is much better. As part of a social experiment, filmmaker Vikram Gandhi dons an orange robe, grows a beard, and transforms himself from a Jersey boy into a wise Indian guru by the name of Kumare. As Kumare, he then sets out to convince and indoctrinate a group of followers in the west that he is the real deal. The aim? To challenge one of the most widely accepted taboos: that only a tiny “1%” can connect the rest of the world to a higher power. Concealing his true identity from everyone he meets, Kumare forges profound and spiritual connections with people from all walks of life. At the same time, in the absurdity of living as an entirely different person, Vikram is forced to confront difficult questions about his own identity.
Gandhi manages to create an engaging documentary that holds a mirror up to his own questions about religion and beliefs and shines the reflection on the unenlightened. This starts off comical and cliché making us laugh at the directionless new agers but quickly transforms into something deeper as he takes us on a journey of transformation, his own, the people he touches and us the audience.
The story unfolds admirably rather like the message Kumare the great guru is developing as he goes along and has you sweating towards the end when at the height of his popularity he contemplates revealing his true identity to a core group of disciples who are knee-deep in personal transformation. Will they accept his final teaching? Will he be able to prove that no one really needs anyone else to make them feel better about themselves?
Kumare delivers on all counts. It is educational, informative, funny and entertaining.
Kumare” opens in Los Angeles at The Cinefamily on Friday, July 26th and will have a full week run from August 3rd through August 9th. In addition, it was voted the AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER – Documentary Feature: SXSW FILM FESTIVAL 2011
