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Darwin's Nightmare | 
| Director: Hubert Sauper
Studio: Homevision
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 28.77
Buy New: CDN$ 20.12
You Save: CDN$ 8.65 (30%)
New (10) Used (2) from CDN$ 20.12
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Format: Import, Full Screen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Russian (Original Language), Swahili (Original Language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: HVE2996DVD
UPC: 014381299625
EAN: 0014381299625
ASIN: B000O78646
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new Item, factory Sealed. Buy direct from the U.S. and save! We only ship airmail to Canada (7-15 days).Caiman, les prix qu'on aime! Tous nos produits sont neufs. Envoi par avion des Etats-Unis
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| Customer Reviews:
 Something Fishy July 14, 2006
9 out of 17 found this review helpful
A disturbing movie which raises many questions and answers few. It centers on the fish processing industry in Mwanza, Tanzania. There the Nile Perch, reportedly a predatory foreign species which has taken over Lake Victoria, is caught and frozen, whence it is exported to Europe by the ton. Russian and Ukrainian pilots are said to bring loads of armaments with them when they arrive before taking off with the fish.
The movie offers memorable Bosch-like images of those who are drawn to the city as a result of this industry. Many wretched folk live from the plant offal, there are itinerant fishermen, beggars, assorted prostitutes and glue sniffing orphans in the streets.
What does Darwin have to do with it? Presumably the Nile Perch, the Europeans and the miserable hangers-on are all part of a vicious struggle in which the fittest grow fat at the expense of the weak.
By juxtaposing images of company officials (all ethnic Indians, not Africans, but we do not learn why) with those of the poor, the movie's director seems to invite criticism of the company and its activities.
But what could this criticism be? Should the company shut its doors? Are Tanzanians generally worse off because of the trade in perch? No evidence is provided that this is so, and there is some reason to think otherwise. While the movie does little to trace the local benefits of the fish trade, the processing company is said to employ a thousand people. Was the populace living in happy tranquility before outsiders came? We are not told, though it is clear that much of the truly atrocious suffering shown is of the readily preventable sort due to HIV AIDS.
European nations and the foreign transport companies are accused of profiting from the misery of Africans by exporting arms, and this is a serious moral criticism. However, the arms trade is not shown to harm the city of Mwanza. The town hardly seems awash in modern weapons, as the representative security guard is armed with bow and arrow.
I am no expert on Tanzanian development, but what is irritating about the movie is its message that the misery shown must be due to "business", foreign exploitation or globalization. In reality, anyone who has reflected on the recent changes in Northeast Asia knows how trade and industry have the power to pull nations out of poverty. During the late fifties the Republic of Korea, now prosperous, had a per person GDP like Ghana's. Wealth comes from commerce and the intelligent application of private capital, not from foreign handouts, happy primitivism, government or a sharing attitude. To the extent that Hubert Sauper suggests otherwise he probably does a disservice to the people he depicts.
 Information for the innocent February 27, 2006
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
I wondered in the 1980's how cargo jets taking fresh cut flowers from Kenya to Europe fit a business plan.Here is a thoughtful, sensitive and perceptive documentary that exposes and explains the collective inhumanity of the one to the other, or the consequences of the politics and economics of underdevelopment. The Nile Perch, an introduced voracious predator has doomed the native Cichlids of Lake Victoria to virtual extinction. However, a business opportunity has been developed. The fish ecology parallels the brutal and lethal injustices of international trade and politics. The pragmatic reality of African exploitation in the context of Eurobusiness is the subject. The stage and actors are in Africa, while the foreign countries, corporations and the elite which set the stage are dramatically absent. This will be an artful classic in political documentary, but will not likely make it to the public school curriculum.
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