andyruff

Darwin's Nightmare is a shocking look at how globalization has caused a country to condemn the majority of its starving population to slavery, prostitution and drug addiction while every day over-fed Europeans dine off of its vast stocks of Nile Perch.

The setting is Lake Victoria, Tanzania, the world's biggest tropical lake, and the Nile Perch (artificially introduced by man) has voraciously destroyed every other species of fish unfortunate to cross its path. Most of those lucky enough to have jobs, fish on the lake and sell their catch to be exported far away to Western Europe. None of the locals can afford to eat the meat of the Perch themselves. They're reduced to scraping together some kind of nightmarish sustenance from the left over rotten fish heads (crawling with maggots) that wouldn't even make it into pet food tins for the west.

Of course, prostitution, drug addiction and HIV are all rife. Everyone knows someone who has died from the 'virus'. Large groups of orphaned homeless children sleep rough on the streets at night. And just to ensure that this convenient state of affairs remains in place (and, of course, to make a nice tidy profit), the vast 'empty' cargo planes arriving from Europe actually seem to be (illegally) laden with weaponry to be sold onto the genocidal wars in Africa. The planes are then packed full of huge amounts of Tanzania's abundant supplies of fish (at times to the point that they're too heavy to take off), and flown back out of the country while the majority of its population face the bleak prospect of famine.

This film is a real eye opener and is genuinely shocking. It should be compulsory viewing for anyone enjoying the privileges of the Western lifestyle.

Going into the cinema, I had high expectations for 5x2. The reviews were glowing, the plot and structure sounded intriguing, and I have a genuine love of French cinema.

I came out hugely disappointed.

(Mistakenly?) I had hoped to see a film which showed some feeling and insight into the tragic decline and ultimate disintegration of a marriage and relationship between two people. And yes, while it's true that we do witness various stages of a marriage falling apart, what we don't ever see is any kind of meaningful relationship or feelings between any of the characters in the film. They are all so self-centered and one dimensional that it's a mystery that any of them are actually in a relationship in the first place. And it's even harder to care what happens/happened to them.

There's a few attempts to give the film some edge - a couple of "she's being raped... oh, actually she's enjoying it" scenes that give misogyny a bad name and a supposedly shocking tale of a mixed hetero/homo orgy complete with (gasp!) poppers and cocaine - but ultimately the whole experience is a grey, limp and lifeless one.

The introduction of an analogy to seemingly still waters hiding dangerous currents beneath is truly groan worthy, and a special mention has to go the American character that appears midway through the film - his presence is memorable despite its brevity by being one the most toe curlingly wooden performances I have ever seen.

In the end 5x2 left me depressed. Depressed at the thought that anyone could relate to the so-called marriage that is central to this film and its cold, insular world.

the edukators is a hugely enjoyable film that perfectly balances the human themes of friendship, love and trust with it's more political undertones.

the main characters are all performed with warmth and a playfulness that keeps the human side of the story engaging, while the plot develops with continual twists and tension. of course the idealism and activism of the protagonists plays a central roll, but the film never falls to the temptation to preach or bog itself down with weighty polemic.

all in all, the edukators is a breath of fresh air that is both satisfying to the head and the heart. highly recommended.