Genre Country Director Actor

The War on Democracy

John Pilger, Christopher Martin, 2007

Star Review

The revelation at the heart of The War on Democracy, John Pilger’s first foray into cinema (that America masks ugly, repressive imperialism under
the guise of ‘democracy’) may not seem anything like a revelation at all.
The fact that it is a revelation – and a jaw-dropping, ‘oh my God, somebody should do something about this’ size revelation at that – should tell you all you need to know about Pilger’s incredible skills as a journalist and documentary film-maker.

Starting out with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela (whose popular support amongst the country’s poor is matched in ferocity by the US and the former ruling elites of Venezuela) but also encompassing the installation of puppet regimes in Chile and Bolivia, a School of the Americas in Georgia that basically taught tyrants and death squads all they needed to know to keep the people down and interviews with torture survivors and bull-headed former CIA men, amongst others.

Like Peter Davis’ landmark Vietnam documentary, Hearts & Minds, John
Pilger’s War on Democracy is one of those documentaries that will stay with you weeks after you’ve seen it. This is fierce, incendiary stuff and an
absolute must-see for anyone with even half a brain in their skull.

Peter Wild on 30th October 2007

View all 55 of Peter Wild’s reviews

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