A low-key but highly engaging documentary about a corporation's attempt to mine a mountain in the Indian state of Orissa, and the resistance of the tribe that lives on the mountain.
If the subject sounds dry, the film-maker compensates with a breezy and charming approach, presenting himself as a somewhat hapless director at the mercy of two local guides who may be more interested in the film-maker's vehicle than his project. His failure to be in the employ of the BBC is also a disappointment.
The refusal of the company, Vedanta, to participate (apart from an unexpected encounter with an employee with an amusingly unrefined approach to p.r.) obliges the director to investigate more closely the lives of his guides, and to question what effect his own work is having on them. Especially in the light of certain sinister events.
The score of Once Upon a Time in the West is mined to cheerful effect.
If the subject sounds dry, the film-maker compensates with a breezy and charming approach, presenting himself as a somewhat hapless director at the mercy of two local guides who may be more interested in the film-maker's vehicle than his project. His failure to be in the employ of the BBC is also a disappointment.
The refusal of the company, Vedanta, to participate (apart from an unexpected encounter with an employee with an amusingly unrefined approach to p.r.) obliges the director to investigate more closely the lives of his guides, and to question what effect his own work is having on them. Especially in the light of certain sinister events.
The score of Once Upon a Time in the West is mined to cheerful effect.