We can change everything around us by choosing Green Peace 4 Virgin Forests, Ocean Revolution 4 Wild Oceans, Organic Consumers 4 Safe food, Global Exchange 4 fair Trade & Rainforest Network 4 clean Energy.The World Over is giving Importance 4 "money values ruling over human values".
It is rare to see raw political issue being translated into a mainstream, that too a Hollywood movie.Earnest & involving account of the riots surrounding the 1999 WTO meeting in Seattle is a rare attempt.
The Initial Opening was as if, I was watching a documentary film, as the history behind WWII, GATT, & WTO etc was being played out on screen.Then Up in the City Skies, we have a two of protagonists hanging over from a city's construction cranes trying to put up something like an anti-WTO Banner.Yep, it was a Banner that says "Democracy" & "WTO" are Antonyms, running in two different directions.The two are Jay(Martin Henderson), one of the leaders of the protest & other is Lou(Michelle Rodriguez), a woman with a bit of anarchy in her past.
It’s November 1999, five days are about to rock the world as tens of thousands of activists take to the streets of Seattle in protest of the WTO’s Meeting.The film depicts a gifted ensemble to entwine diverse points of view from masses of protesters, environmental advocates, labor unions, students, anti-war supporters, police, delegates, doctors & many others congregate at Seattle 4 the WTO meeting.Each of whom intentionally or accidentally find themselves on the streets of Seattle in the last days of the millennium.The Film seamlessly merges footage of the real event with a fantastic tale.Finally, illustrates that even against incredible odds; ordinary people can change the world.Each has a unique story, but they’re united in a common desire to be heard & to make a difference in the world. The choices they all make will change their lives forever.
Against this true setting, the film knits a group of fictional individual stories that stress the various kinds of people including key activists like Django(Andre Benjamin) a scene stealer 4 his warmth & dignifying charisma with spunk & spirit who believes deeply in the cause but has others ways of making it ensue, while sitting in a jail cell clarifies that, “A week ago nobody knew what the WTO was & well, they still don’t know what it is, but they know that it’s bad”. And then there are Sam(Jennifer Carpenter) the conflict lawyer who fights 4 the cause, Jay(Martin Henderson), an enthusiastic leader whose cause has been incited by the death of his brother & is determined to make a difference to accomplish the destruction of the WTO conference by nearly any means possible.His one-sided view has hardened him & adamant that he is destroying his close relationship with Lou(Michelle Rodriguez), a person who grasps there are limits but has a tough time persuading him.They're resolute to stop the conference, but they want to do it peaceful.
There’s Dale(Woody Harrelson) a riot-busting cop whose anger pushes him over a line & then leaves him perplexed about his job when his pregnant wife, Ella(Charlize Theron, Townsend’s real wife) a pregnant woman who remains aloof from the skirmish until it literally hits her in the gut; becomes an innocent victim of the violence between protesters & law enforcement. She has some touching & effective moments as an innocent bystander is stuck between advancing police in riot gear & the crush of protesters to be tragically connected to the events in the streets, puts some raw emotion portraying true life events.
The Mayor Jim Tobin(Ray Liotta), whose faith in free assembly grinds down, in spite of saying to the protesters " Be tough on your issues, But Be Gentle on My Town", as he sees his city slide into a state of emergency & Jean, a sneering curt TV news reporter(Connie Nielsen) who thinks she cares only about a story but nails the inner turmoil many face when covering a major story & trying to stay put as human being at the same time. At the height of the drama on the streets, when the city imposed a curfew in a move to stop protests, she gags herself along the protesters, when the newsroom expects sound bites from her about WTO & protests.
Heartthrobs Channing Tatum as Johnson & Joshua Jackson as Randall show some bits of acting in their brief screen appearances.Then there are the good delegates to the conference, Dr Alex Maric(Rade Serbedzija), a physician from Doctors Without Borders who at last questions “Isn’t it time that people mattered more than profit?” & an official from a beleaguered Africa whose plea 4 sanity goes unheard amid the chaos.All affected by the protests, invariably in ways they did not anticipate.In a time of catastrophic inertia, the unasked question is, Should we give up or try harder?Where & on whom do we vent our anger on?The Chain reaction leads to actions, nothing goes the way anyone thought it would.
The movie's romance reaches typical bollywood style with two love struck protesters hold hands through the bars of adjoining jail cells.While the lovers are inside the jail, other protesters surround the jail & the street outside to sent news & support through mega-phones.
The kaleidoscopic view is so far-reaching that it's easy to get caught up in the passion of street battles & the next best thing is to be far away & it makes me glad, that I was not there.The film keeps a strong pace, cutting between the preparations of the protesters & the police & scoring political points.The Film has its awkward moments as documentary footage & fictional drama scenes make uneasy bedfellows.
I remember reading about the WTO, Seattle way back with no interest in the WTO.But all I read was about anarchists & riots & I didn't really learn anything about WTO.But by watching the film, I realized the protests were a watershed event.I was able to see a bird's-eye view of what WTO is all about. The WTO, the art of street protest or the policing major political events were never the same.I think WTO protesters won the Battle in Seattle.
The anti-globalisation movement collapsed after the 9/11 attacks & the wars in Afghan & Iraq. However, the issues surrounding the 1999 WTO protests are just as relevant now as they were nine years ago. With a billion people in the “developing” countries face hunger, lack of access to medicines & health care 4 those who need it & the elevating of corporate profit over the needs & rights of workers are even more urgent matters of concern today. The current global capitalist financial crisis just illustrates this fact.
When one of the protagonists says that what most Americans will take away from the protests, he is summing up the film's inevitable effect "I don't know what the WTO is, but I know it's bad"
Directed by Stuart Townsend
Produced by Mary Aloe, Kirk Shaw, Maxime Remillard, Julien Remillard, Ashok Amritraj
Music by Massive Attack(Listen to Signs)
Cinematography Barry Ackroyd
Warning Adult Content, Violence, Profanity, Vulgarity, Slurs & Brief Gore.
