The films opens with two Ukrainian girls chatting in, I presume, Ukrainian. There are no subtitles and for a minute I thought I had a dud DVD, but you do manage to get an idea what’s going on. Basically one has gone to an agency and is getting her photo taken - huge red flag!
Weisz is a policewoman in Nebraska who is trying to get a transfer. She has lost a custody battle with her husband and needs to move if she is to keep in contact with her kids. The answer to her problems looks like it has arrived in the shape of a 6 month, $100k contract to work in Bosnia, following the end of the war. Her role is one of peacekeeper so she can’t always get involved in the seedy activities she sees going on.
After managing to prosecute the first case of domestic abuse in years she is spotted by boss woman Vanessa Redgrave, who gets her a promotion to head of female affairs. Meanwhile we see the Ukrainian girl from the start who is now a sex worker in a grotty bar. She and Weisz’ paths cross and, after finding a lot of Polaroids showing that UN workers are involved in all aspects of the trade, Rachel resolves to clean things up.
It’s not an easy task however, as all UN workers have diplomatic immunity and the powers that be have a desire to keep things quiet, lest the lucrative government contracts be pulled. She has brief help from Dr Strange and from David Strathearn at internal affairs, but her plans for justice are thwarted at every turn.
How far will Weisz go to save the girls and can the broken system be fixed?
This was a worthy and informative film, but one you would be hard pressed to enjoy. The treatment of women throughout is terrible with some of the extras from ‘Taken’ regularly delivering savage beatings to some dead-eyed girls. This means a lot of the film is women screaming and, although it’s doubtlessly realistic, I was worried the neighbours might call the cops on me.
Weisz is great in the lead and you can tell she is passionate about the subject of human trafficking. She doesn’t have any make up on and is usually in fatigues so you can’t say she’s in it for the glamour.
It was a clever device to follow the Ukrainian girl throughout so that we have a familiar face to empathise with. I was less keen on the several scenes where all the dialogue was in a foreign language and we had to guess what was going on.
The top level cast was mostly good, although Dr Strange and Davos Seaworth only had a couple of brief scenes each. To be fair, this film dates from 2010 so both were still early in their, soon to be stellar, careers.
The film used a largely blue and grey palette and the general mood was one of oppression and decay. It certainly suited the subject matter but, along with the brutal subject matter, it only underlined what a depressing experience this film could be for some.
I did enjoy it, and although the captions at the end said that the problem wasn’t fixed it was good to celebrate one woman’s efforts to write the horrible wrongs being perpetuated by those who were sent as saviours.
THE Tag Line : As Harrowing As It Should Be! 72%
No comments:
Post a Comment