Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Virunga (2014)

Director: Orlando von Einsiedel. 90 min. UK/Congo. Documentary.

Netflix's Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Oscar-nominated documentary takes a look at the Virunga National Park in Congo, home of the last surviving mountain gorillas, whose existence is threatened by a never-ending civil war and profit-hungry foreign oil investors. There are films (Blackfish, The Cove) that make you seriously care about wildlife; they make you react. With all of this film's journalistic merit (hidden cameras show actual bribes changing hands), it doesn't make a very strong case for the gorillas, as the investors promise universities, schools and roads for the destabilized, war-ravaged country. Curious how this ended up among the top five nominees.

Mo says:

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