The Debt and Amazing Grace
Today we saw two more films at the Seattle International Film Festival.
The first film was The Debt, a documentary from Argentinean journalist/film maker Jorge Lanata. The Debt starts with TV news footage of a crying, young girl named Barbara. A few years ago the footage set off a media blitz in the country, making Barbara the poster child for malnourishment in a nation with over 4 million underfed children.
Moved by the footage, Lanata starts off of on a quest to document how a nation so rich in natural resources can fail to feed its own kids. Lanata's inquiries lead him to examine the country's $180 billion dollar debt to creditors such as the World Bank. Lanata examines where the debt came from and how Argentina managed to amass such a debt while obtaining few noticeable improvements in the country's infrastructure. Lanata questions the ethics of Argentina's creditors asking how they could justify continuing to allow the country to borrow money beyond its means.
The film doesn't just point the finger at external causes for the county's problems though. As the film's producer (who was in attendance) put it, there are no 'good' or 'bad' guys in this story though we might like to think of things that way to make them easier to understand. Lanata drives home the point that Argentina needs to focus inwardly and figure out how to identify and correct its own problems if it's ever going to be able to remedy the situation. In an honest but depressing conclusion, Lanata laments that the situation in Argentina right now is complicated and is not something that can easily be summed up or fixed in the course of a film.
The second film was Amazing Grace, a documentary about singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, who died at the age of 30 in a tragic drowning accident . The film features some excellent live concert footage as well as interviews with Buckley, who turns out to be delightfully thoughtful. The film includes interviews with Rolling Stone writer David Fricke, Sebastian Bach, Chris Cornell, Duncan Shiek, members of Jeff Buckley's band and many others. Though the footage of Buckley and his amazing voice alone probably make the film worth seeing, it's not without its flaws. With Buckley's current icon status it can be difficult to get a good perspective on his work, but at times the film comes across as overly sycophantic. If you're a huge fan already you probably won't even notice, but as a casual fan parts felt a bit too hero-worshipy for me.
posted by Jamie at 1:20 AM
3 Comments:
I think you put the plot of The Debt far more lucidly than the film did...
3:00 PM
My wife and I went to see “Amazing Grace” last month. I went with no expectations because I didn't really know about the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. But I was thinking it would be good. I really liked Amazing Grace. This movie was made secularly (if that is the proper way to say it) and was great.
11:47 PM
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7:34 AM
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