Vacation Nicaragua (Film Review)

Note: This is a documentary film, not a major motion picture.

Vacation Nicaragua ; c1986 ; 77 minutes ; English ; directed by Anita Clearfield. At a most historic time, a group of ordinary Americans visit Nicaragua in an attempt to understand the people, the country, and the conflict.

In the mid-1980’s, director Clearfield headed off on vacation with what are described as “25 ordinary Americans”, in a quest to learn more about the Nicaraguan people and culture. If the documentary is straight-forward, then the tourists in question had no preconceived political mission. Nevertheless, they end up in a meeting with anti-Sandinista Congressman Cheney, and come away intrigued, and somewhat cynical. They reclaim their tourism goal, and head off into the country to meet up with their counterparts, “ordinary Nicaraguans”. What they discover independently in Nicaragua, calls into question their view of their government, and of many of their leaders. The film includes footage from a speech by Daniel Ortega. The Americans examine issued as diverse as social values, health care, education, political theory, and military aid.

The film is of interest regardless of what your views are on the conflict, or the U.S. government, though probably for different reasons. If you believe all U.S. intervention in Nicaraguan is without any moral or legal basis, the film will probably reconfirm your suspicions or beliefs about all that went on there. If however, you find it not all that surprising that a left-of-center film director selects 25 people defined as ordinary and apolitical, and takes them to a country where they discuss topics and programs about which they lack expertise and background knowledge, yet they come away with unforgettably keen insight, and condemn the actions of their government, you might once again assume the alleged connections between the political left and not just Hollywood, but a portion of “objective” documentary film-making community, is alive and well.

This is one of the most viewed documentaries on Nicaragua, as it is relatively easy to locate in the academic world, or see aired on public television; many non-profit organizations saw to it that this project was donated to public and private Universities, and a rather large number of public libraries and think tanks.