In the early 1960s, Nile
perch were introduced into Lake Victoria in an effort to
restock depleted waters, a lucrative move that brought fishing jobs to Tanzania
and lined the pockets of enterprising exporters satiating European hunger for
the one of the biggest freshwater fish around.
What probably seemed like a good idea
at the time has evolved, for lack of a better word, into both an ecological and
humanitarian disaster. Hubert Sauper’s
Oscar-nominated documentary Darwin’s Nightmare explores how one
unbelievably shortsighted action has turned the largest tropical lake on earth
into a massive hellhole that deteriorates further while the world watches.
The widespread famine surrounding Lake
Victoria is a grim irony since the waters give up tons of protein
every day in the Nile perch, arguably Tanzania’s
cash crop. But this cannibalistic predator is ruining the lake’s ecosystem, as
well as the lives of those dependent on its unnatural existence. Sauper illustrates this frustrating chain reaction through
interviews with the poverty-stricken fishermen harvesting the waters, the often
HIV-infected prostitutes who service the fishermen (condom use is a sin), and
the little glue-huffing orphans who will most likely grow up to become
fishermen if there are any perch left by that time. And if
the kids live that long.
Sauper also
speaks to the more opportunistic predators benefiting from this ongoing crisis,
such as the higher-ups at the fish-processing facility (one seems especially
enamored of his singing Billy Bass) trying to remain blind to the surrounding
desolation, as well as the pilots who transport the fish out of Tanzania.
These men of predominantly Russian and Ukrainian descent are an interesting if
mercenary lot, and Sauper keeps returning to the
question of their cargo planes: what do the pilots bring with them when they
arrive in Tanzania
to transport the fish? The pilots give vague answers, from “nothing” to
“equipment,” but it’s obvious that they’re not loaded down with much-needed humanitarian aid, and the general consensus is the
planes are delivering arms to facilitate the many wars ravaging Africa.
But not all of the pilots are able to feign detached ignorance for the camera.
And the images, though artfully
composed for a verité piece of filmmaking, are
heartbreaking: leftover fish carcasses rotting in the sun, maggots wiggling on
a woman’s muddy toes, starving kids pummeling one another for a couple of
clumps of rice, once-gorgeous Tanzanians in the final stages of AIDS.
But Sauper
doesn’t offer any solutions, and that’s not his job. Darwin’s Nightmare brings necessary attention to an issue that
actually reaches beyond the shores of Lake Victoria.
It’s called survival of the fittest, a notion that would be far more palatable
if the fittest were also the smartest.
A
handful of thoughts on the Academy Award nominations, the reason my cereal
gets soggy every winter on a Tuesday morning:
What was originally thought to be a
two-horse race (Walk the Line vs. Brokeback Mountain) just got slightly more
interesting with the non-acting nominations for Capote as well as the eleventh-hour push for Spielberg’s Munich.
Amy Adams’ much-deserved nod for the underseenJunebug was the most pleasant surprise of the nominations.
Maybe the Academy loves meerkats as well.
I would have liked to see Ralph
Fiennes get some love from Oscar for The
Constant Gardener, but I am happy that fifth slot went to surprise nominee
Terrence Howard for Hustle and Flow instead of perennial fallback Russell Crowe for CinderellaMan.
KeiraKnightley was not the one who should have been noticed for Pride and Prejudice. Donald Sutherland’s
lovely and subtle performance as the kindly Mr. Bennet
cannot be praised enough.
For the first time in a while all of
the Best Picture nominees are directed by all of the Best Director nominees. I
was hoping the odd slot might go to Fernando Meirelles
for his astounding work on The Constant
Gardener.
Finally, an Oscar
nomination for Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man).
Is an Academy Award nod for acclaimed
thespian Matt Dillon a sure sign of the apocalypse or just a gentle reminder
from the universe that I really should get out from under that rock I call home
and see Crash?
Jon Stewart (yay!)
hosts the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 5, at 8
p.m.
Darwin‘s
Nightmare (NR), directed by Hubert Sauper, is showing at the George Eastman House’s Dryden Theatre on
Saturday, February 4, at 8 p.m. and
on Sunday, February 5, at 7 p.m.
This article appears in Feb 1-7, 2006.
