Life and Debt - Documentary Review

I thought it might be worth mentioning that this is not a new film. Though released back in 2001, much of the footage and commentary is from 1998. This has nothing to do with the merit of the film or if what is said is true, but it might be easy to assume from the posts here down below (if you have not seen the film) that this is a new film, and that it might be based on or incorporate the CAFTA push.

The banana farming problems are from way back in 1990 (they do not tell you that subsidies and special agreements were what kept the export industry alive in the first place), and the milk problems from 1992 (they do not tell you that it was the removal of Jamaican milk subsidies which caused the biggest problem, nor do they address why it was subsidized in the first place). Manley's anti-IMF speech is now 30 years old, and he is left with the blame, something he seems willing to accept though much of it was not his fault (the director does not spell out the fact that Jamaican free trade zones were a Jamaican economic idea; the Jamaican government devised and implemented this plan many decades ago, and it was not tied to the IMF).

Also, it is arguably the best film made about globalization. And, it should be noted that the director admitted she made no attempt at objectivity in the making of the film (the angry film is nothing if not with agenda. It is, after all, made using the words of a fictional work by a poet describing another country, and the power of the film comes as much from juxtapositioning of wealth and poverty, as it does from facts outlines in the film). She never blames a single Jamaican for a single thing (how could that be?), and she never compares Jamaica to other comparably poor countries (did they not face the same problems?), and she seems to just accept the claims by some in the film regarding the good old days which accompanied Jamaican market rule, which always seem self-serving if not rediculous (if there were good old days, why did Manley see no other way but IMF, to simply get as he says, penecillin?).

Because the film has an agenda, that is not to say the film is full of lies (Michael Moore admitted Farenhiet 9/11 was not objective, and that his goal was to prevent the re-election of you know who, but that did not stop him from being irate when people said parts of the film were not true - that things were not factually correct). These are two different things. Even with its faults it is, I think, the best film made on the lending of money and debt collection in poor countries. If anyone was interested, the director also made a movie on the guest visa workers in the U.S. sugarcane industry, called "H-2 Work".

Official Site : The Film & Related “Things” http://www.lifeanddebt.org/

PBS - The “Blurb” http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2001/lifeanddebt/

Some More Reviews:

http://www.jahworks.org/music/movies/life_debt.html

http://www.reelingreviews.com/lifeanddebt.htm

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0124,tate,25515,1.html

http://www.cinescene.com/dash/life&debt.htm

http://www.alternet.org/globalization/12285/

It is an interesting film. It is also interesting that a documentary on this topic, ended up with a motion picture soundtrack by Tuff Gong Records. Some parts I was suspicious about, and also about the claims made in some of their literature. One example would be the free trade zone relocations. I am not sure I buy the idea that the pathetically low salaries paid in these in Jamaica were not low enough and that the corporations once there moved away for cheaper labor. That statement certianly seems believable until you realize they want you to believe these corps left for Costa Rica & Mexico. Cost Rica? Mexico? How could they undercut Jamaica for labor? I do not believe it. If the corps left for those places there was another reason the film does not touch on. The banana controversy is similar. Other areas of concern are like this too. I suspect they are correct about the bigger economic issues, but often they try to prove it with a particular type of thing, and the thing they chose to use to demonstrate might not have been the best choice. Just my opinion. There are 2 documentarys about the IMF and Nicaragua, a few years old now. If I remember the titles I will make a post, but they would be hard to few or rent.

&#9829 Miskito Alan:

"fyl" and I are going to make a documtentary entitled:

"Watching the Zinc Rust in Nicaragua".

10-1 that "Roger" gives us a better review than whatever thing that you are talking about reviewed by my good friend, Roger Eggberto.

"Pete" - Seriously - That sounds a little boring and Roger must have had a "goma" that day or nothing else to do.

Ah - If only "Gene" were still with us.

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