Dvd Review

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday February 2, 2008

Sacha Molitorisz

The War on Democracy

Rated M

(Hopscotch Entertainment)

If you asked New Yorkers about September 11, they'd assume you were talking about 2001. If, however, you asked someone from Chile, they'd think back to 1973. On that day General Augusto Pinochet, with US backing, ousted democratically elected Salvador Allende - or "Whatsisname", as former CIA chief Duane Clarridge knows him.

Chile is one subject and Clarridge is one interviewee in this fascinating documentary about the US's habit of meddling in Latin America politics. The pattern is well-established: a Latin American leader is elected, the US helps topple him and install a more sympathetic dictator, any remaining opposition is crushed via torture and death squads. All in the name of US national security.

It's written, directed and reported by John Pilger (pictured), the Aussie journo who has carved a career out of spruiking causes, including East Timor and indigenous Australians. Thanks to telling interviews with academics, ex-spooks and leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Pilger mounts a compelling argument. Occasionally, he becomes heavy-handed, telling viewers what to think instead of how it is. Similarly, footage of the White House is invariably accompanied by menacing music.

The film closes with Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come, presumably intended to convey optimism. A Latin American tune would have been more appropriate.

Even so, this is an illuminating account of a region too often ignored.