Ray Pride

Lies, damned lies, television. Irish documentary makers Kim Bartley and Donnacha O Briain traveled to Venezuela, the world's fourth-largest exporter of oil, at the end of 2001 to shoot a portrait of democratically elected president Hugo Chavez, whose populist intentions were inspired by Venezuela's liberator, Simon Bolivar. In April 2002, in a country where 80 percent of the population lives in poverty, members of the military and the former ruling class attempted a coup to prevent any redistribution of oil income, with the cooperation of privately held TV stations that claimed Chavez was "mentally ill", "sexually fixated on Fidel Castro" or, in the words of the late Jesse Helms, "consorted with narco-terrorists in Colombia." In just over seventy minutes, the two filmmakers' access seems omnipresent, capturing with clarity and speed the events at the presidential palace and on the packed streets of Caracas as the coup d'etat toppled within twenty-four hours. It's also a remarkable portrait of the power of unfair and unbalanced media in swaying sentiment rather than intellect. The twenty-first century needs many more awe-inspiring acts of witness like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," works of art and heart. Chavez remains adamant in defining the world for his countrymen, rather than the interests of other countries: "I've had to withstand huge international pressures but I don't care if it means that one day I have to go to the gates of hell to defend the people of Venezuela then so be it, I will defend you come what may." Let's hope simple truth has similar defenders out there, more brilliant, cogent filmmakers like Bartley and O Briain. 74m.

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" opens Friday at Landmark Century.

(2003-10-29)

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