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After seeing posters all over Australia for the country’s September release of War on Democracy, I was eager to see it.

Reading up on it, I was still eager to see it. According to the website, it’s made by an Emmy-award-winning Australian journalist (living in London) and it tells the story of “the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia, and Chile.” So, yesterday afternoon I hopped on into the theater with my bag of popcorn and cup of Sprite.

Huge disappointment. First off, the presentation was wretched. After seeing the strong-imaged posters, I expected the film to have similar images. That it did not. The quality looked like the videos I’ve been putting on this blog…and I’ve only been using the free software that came with my computer…and spend only an hour or so putting them together. A feature-length documentary, I believe, could afford a bit of flair. But flair was definitely lacking. As was a certain journalistic quality. Like most “documentaries” of recent popularity, this film is simply a soapbox for the writer, director, and/or producer to portray his (or her) viewpoint on a certain subject (unlike the old school documentary Hoop Dreams, which really was without much creator assertion but was still a fascinating watch). And worst off, director/writer/presenter John Pilger failed to present balanced facts that any journalist should…for instance American media was more than half the time presented through Fox News stories (and as anyone knows is the majorly conservative news station in the US), and quoted presidents and “sources” were all from Republican administrations. Worst, though…there were just not hard facts. Pilger spent far too much time arguing with (outlandish) Duane R. Clarridge, a former chief of CIA operations in the area discussed, about how many people were killed by a US-backed government. And when Pilger failed to support his argument (just go to the walls, NGOs, and other sources you spoke to and count the names, mister) with an actual number, it comes across as just one more crack in his argument, that could have been supported with facts and not just anecdotes.

Because of these things and the lack of any semblance of a story line, I have to guess this movie will not be shown in American mainstream theaters…or maybe even small art-house ones.

Which is sad…there is much truth in Pilger’s film, and our country’s foreign policy is something that I would love to become more of a regular dialog in media and our national community. But with the poorly-crafted film, Pilger’s pillaged information seems doomed to stay in countries where the viewers already know about (and have quite strong opinions) on what they’re watching.

You’re preaching to the choir, Pilger.