Darwin's Nightmare

Some people really don't understand this film. The REAL subject matter takes place right near the very end! I remember the night when I first saw this film. During the last few minutes, and as the credits began rolling, no one moved. The entire audience was stunned, unable to move or think. We were physically motionless, our minds frozen, dazed, the hairs on our heads stood on end. Not a word was spoken while we realized the profound implications of what we'd just seen. What we would take from it was not what we'd thought, not what had been billed, and yet we knew not a single one of us would ever be the same.I was among those with the fortunate opportunity to meet the director, Hubert Sauper, in person, for a Q & A session regarding what he'd unmistakably and purely accidentally uncovered by the close of this film. In an astoundingly open and honest discussion he answered questions and talked of his experiences while making the film. He explained how he planned its beginning, then explained when and how he knew he'd have to end it and leave abruptly after innocently discovering what he'd never planned to know - and why he decided to include that revelation exactly as it played out. The minute I left the theatre I knew I'd have to own my own copy so I could watch it again. And, show others. And if I were able, I'd buy everyone a copy because I felt it was that important.A simply ASTOUNDING film that everyone, particularly those in the USA, should see. It won awards the world over. One moment I thought I was watching a film about the fishing industry at Lake Victoria, Africa. Then prostitution, hunger, murder, and other atrocities were revealed. Just when it was about to be over, suddenly I realized the camera had picked up something else, something not meant to be known. It wasn't drugs, not murder, not suicide, not euthanasia, but something far worse, and I was speechless! I couldn't move, my brain was numb. I knew what I saw and what it meant! Mr. Sauper verified my thoughts. I left with a headache, bursting with anger, more questions, and pent up energy. This was real! I felt sick to my stomach. My husband and I crossed the parking lot silently, in deep thought, saying nothing because we were numb with the reality of what had been shown us. Instead we watched each step we took until we reached the car. It's been a few years now since that premier, but I still feel the same when I recall or re-watch this film. It's still real and still a nightmare!

This movie should be required viewing for everyone in the western world. If you think your life is difficult, just remember the people living on Lake Victoria.

This is a very disturbing documentary. As disturbing as the fact that very few people know about it. I have tremendous respect for the film maker and how he exposes these atrocities without any kind of sugar coating. While he touches on some of the politics responsible for so much misery, his main focus is on humanity itself, or lack thereof. If you ever thing your life is bad, watch this. Be warned though, it is not an easy watch and will provoke anger, sadness and perspective.

I agree with the main point Hubert Sauper is trying to make with this film: that globalization, the increasing interconnectedness linking people and places around the world, has led to a deeply unjust economic order, in which a lucky few reap most of the benefits while most everyone else sees their living standards going from bad to worse. This argument I accept wholeheartedly, but I was disappointed by the manner in which "Darwin's Nightmare" tries to convey it.Sauper brings his camera to the shores of Lake Victoria and talks with a bunch of people: a night watchman, a fish processing plant owner, a journalist, some fishermen, some bar girls, some Ukrainian cargo plane crews, and some street children. (These are the ones we see, anyway.) The pilots and the plant owners are doing okay, but everyone else seems to be facing greater misery and insecurity. This commerce raises some profound ironies: for one, Tanzania is exporting thousands of tons of Nile Perch fillets to Europe while millions of its own citizens are facing famine because they are too poor to buy the food available in the markets; for another, the planes that come to bring Lake Victoria's fish to Europe arrive empty, or sometimes even bringing arms to fuel Africa's bloody conflicts. A meeting of wealthy exporters and trade officials takes place on a posh hotel veranda while crippled children fight over food on the dusty street below.Sauper's methods pack an emotional punch, but also leave the film open to criticism. Why doesn't he speak to a broader sample of Tanzanians? Why does he allude to issues like the Nile Perch's environmental impact or the arms trade but fail to follow up on them? Most importantly, why does he rely solely on anecdotal evidence to get his message across? The "big picture" is hinted at and only fleetingly glimpsed.I ordered this DVD to show to students in a course on globalization. Like me, they found it disturbing and evocative, but less compelling than others we'd watched on similar themes. (Stephanie Black's 2001 documentary "Life and Debt," about globalization's impact in Jamaica, was much more effective in this regard.) Those who are inclined to accept Sauper's thinking may come away wanting more, and those inclined to be skeptical will find his case easier to dismiss, which is a shame, because it deserves to be hammered home in the most powerful way possible.

I am really surprised that so many people gave this such a high rating. They obvious saw something I didn't. I saw it as boring and amateur.What I didn't like about it was that I didn't think there was story that needed to be told. You follow the fish from when it was caught to being processed to being shipped to Europe and the remaining carcases of the fish's body discarded and collected again by the poor. It was about trading food for arms to continue the war in Africa. The lives of the fisherman, the pilots, the villages, the prostitutes and everything else that revolves around these fish.I guess I am used to really good documentaries and this seamed like this was a final project that he put together for his last year at film school. The story wasn't there and the quality wasn't there. And I have no idea where Darwin fits into all this. The title made me buy it and what a disappointment.

Very interesting and important documentary/movie about a massive problem.

It's refreshing to see a documentary shot entirely without a narrator or guiding voice, and it tells its story compellingly.

This book was recommended to me by a friend who was not happy with what is happening in some countries around the great lake Victoria. The West has a lot to answer to God.

Pretty crap film