June 17, 2008
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) (2007)
***Thanks to Jeff of BURTONIA for offering this review***
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), the recent documentary about criminality and corruption in Brazil, tackles an important and fascinating subject. Unfortunately the filmmaker loses his focus and then his integrity and spoils what could have been a great picture.
Jason Kohn tells two stories, and is never able to quite make them come together (despite some heavy-handed editing). One is about the epidemic of kidnapping in Sao Paulo and is riveting. The movie should have stuck with this topic, because it comprises all the best bits. The other part is about a corrupt politician who stole bazillions of dollars. Boring.
Kohn keeps coming back to the criminal politico, mainly, I think, because his schemes involve a frog farm. The frog farm serves two purposes for Kohn. First, his Big Idea is that the frog farm is a metaphor for all of Brazil. This might have been effective if some of the frogs had kidnapped some other frogs and held them ransom, but alas, the amphibians are only capable of eating each other (aha! Don't you get it? Frog's infroganity to Frog!)
The frog farm offers Mr. Kohn another opportunity, and that is to turn his supposedly serious documentary into a kind of Mondo exploitation film. It's the surest sign of hackery when a documentarian sticks in gratuitous scenes of animals being butchered (think the rabbit scene in Roger and Me). The camera lingers a bit too greedily over the frog slaughter house and it makes us suspicious when we enter an operating room and are treated to a ring-side seat at a reconstructive ear surgery.
This is sad, because there are so many compelling scenes that describe the kidnapping industry in Brazil – from the anguish of the victims to the motives of the perpetrators and the frustration of the police who chase them. Perhaps the best vignette is an un-narrated clip of poor kids in the favelas playing out the entire kidnapping sequence, right down to the negotiators on the cell phones.
I hope Kohn continues making films because he has an eye for the telling detail that can make or break a documentary. Just leave the frogs out of it.
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), the recent documentary about criminality and corruption in Brazil, tackles an important and fascinating subject. Unfortunately the filmmaker loses his focus and then his integrity and spoils what could have been a great picture.
Jason Kohn tells two stories, and is never able to quite make them come together (despite some heavy-handed editing). One is about the epidemic of kidnapping in Sao Paulo and is riveting. The movie should have stuck with this topic, because it comprises all the best bits. The other part is about a corrupt politician who stole bazillions of dollars. Boring.
Kohn keeps coming back to the criminal politico, mainly, I think, because his schemes involve a frog farm. The frog farm serves two purposes for Kohn. First, his Big Idea is that the frog farm is a metaphor for all of Brazil. This might have been effective if some of the frogs had kidnapped some other frogs and held them ransom, but alas, the amphibians are only capable of eating each other (aha! Don't you get it? Frog's infroganity to Frog!)
The frog farm offers Mr. Kohn another opportunity, and that is to turn his supposedly serious documentary into a kind of Mondo exploitation film. It's the surest sign of hackery when a documentarian sticks in gratuitous scenes of animals being butchered (think the rabbit scene in Roger and Me). The camera lingers a bit too greedily over the frog slaughter house and it makes us suspicious when we enter an operating room and are treated to a ring-side seat at a reconstructive ear surgery.
This is sad, because there are so many compelling scenes that describe the kidnapping industry in Brazil – from the anguish of the victims to the motives of the perpetrators and the frustration of the police who chase them. Perhaps the best vignette is an un-narrated clip of poor kids in the favelas playing out the entire kidnapping sequence, right down to the negotiators on the cell phones.
I hope Kohn continues making films because he has an eye for the telling detail that can make or break a documentary. Just leave the frogs out of it.
Related Reviews:
Documentaries
Street Fight (2005)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Film-Forward
Reel.com
Documentaries
Street Fight (2005)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
Other Critic's Reviews:
Film-Forward
Reel.com
Labels: documentary, film, movie review
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 6:00 PM
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