From knowing people who did cooperation, or reading books like "Noir Canada: pillage et corruption en Afrique" or watching documentaries like "France Afrique" (by Patrick Benquet), I can say that the portrayal of international cooperation depicted in this movie is very very close to reality: the aid made to look good on paper but maladaptive or even counterproductive on the ground, the corruption, the "linking" of aid, for example: "our agency is gonna build you a road and a school and a dispensary, just give this company the exclusive mining rights of your region (worth tens, even hundreds of millions) and get those local miners out of the way".
At first I was wandering the point of the subplot near the end when the main character tries to seduce and then abuses his cook's 13 yo daughter (pretty creepy), but then I taught it's a metaphor or parable of international aid: we may rationalize our actions even delude ourselves in thinking we're righteous but the real motives are self-serving and darker.
This film is not a feel good, happy end, pop corn movie: the subject is not a happy one and you have to stay focus to catch all the details (and there are many of them, I probably missed some) the acting is incredible (if I didn't knew, I'd taught I was watching a real video journal), for once the African characters are not depicted in a shallow, stereotyped or pitiful way, some scenes are beautiful, some are very uncomfortable (especially because of their realism).
On the whole it's a very interesting movie, definitely worth watching if you're interested in those subjects or want to see a glimpse at what's really going on in Africa.
At first I was wandering the point of the subplot near the end when the main character tries to seduce and then abuses his cook's 13 yo daughter (pretty creepy), but then I taught it's a metaphor or parable of international aid: we may rationalize our actions even delude ourselves in thinking we're righteous but the real motives are self-serving and darker.
This film is not a feel good, happy end, pop corn movie: the subject is not a happy one and you have to stay focus to catch all the details (and there are many of them, I probably missed some) the acting is incredible (if I didn't knew, I'd taught I was watching a real video journal), for once the African characters are not depicted in a shallow, stereotyped or pitiful way, some scenes are beautiful, some are very uncomfortable (especially because of their realism).
On the whole it's a very interesting movie, definitely worth watching if you're interested in those subjects or want to see a glimpse at what's really going on in Africa.
