A heart-wrenching, alarming and brilliantly crafted documentary about Chevron's desecration of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and the 27-billion dollar law suit in which indigenous peoples seek remediation and justice.
1 Comment
09/12/09
Crude (2009)
95
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:43
Fresh:41
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Dynamic, tightly arranged, and deliberately provocative, Joe Berlinger's Crude is a sobering, enraging wake-up call.
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: Director Joe Berlinger continues in the tradition of his justice-driven films BROTHER’S KEEPER and PARADISE LOST with this documentary. CRUDE travels to South America, where it investigates the... [More]
Director: Joe Berlinger
Reviews for Crude
Embedded in the story are enough intriguing characters and moments of high human drama for it to function more like a piece of effective fiction than a work of overwrought agitprop.
09/11/09
A provocative, well-balanced, illuminating and thoroughly engrossing documentary.
09/11/09
A dynamic and dramatic documentary about the David vs. Goliath dimensions of the "Amazon Chernobyl" case where indigenous tribal groups are fighting the multinational corporation Chevron.
09/11/09
Here’s a powerhouse of a documentary that makes you feel mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore.
09/11/09
Berlinger gives a good amount of time to the big oil representatives, but it's clear that he's on the side of the people. Aside from that, Crude is a fine work of journalism.
09/10/09
Crude is remarkably clear-eyed in the way it shows how even people on the right side of a cause only succeed if they’re willing to play a little dirty.
09/10/09
The film is fair (which is different from being objective) and works hard at representing both points of view. That it's already been denounced in some quarters is only proof he has the oil companies worried.
09/10/09
Keeps a tight focus on a sprawling topic, condensing three years of production into a narrative that neatly lays out the history of the controversy, the opposing viewpoints and key players
09/09/09
Involving doc about the devastating impact of oil exploration on Ecuador's rainforest community.
09/09/09
Top CriticWhen well-meaning Trudie Styler, founder of Rainforest Foundation (and Sting’s wife), comes on, even Farjardo’s convictions and Berlinger’s early scenes about native culture and ancestry get swept up amidst hubristic hubbub.
09/09/09
Berlinger is fully invested here, but a little distance might have helped.
09/09/09
Mr. Berlinger has both a strong narrative instinct and a keen eye for incongruous, evocative and powerful images.
09/09/09
Top CriticJoe Berlinger's remarkable documentary, Crude, recounts an infuriating litany of South American exploitation, backroom glad-handing, and bureaucratic dead ends.
09/08/09
Crude is both a tribute to human-rights tenacity and a sobering account of the multinational-Moloch greed that can keep justice in limbo.
09/08/09
while Berlinger allows the film to get a little too star-struck, spending less time with the winningly humble patchwork alliance doing the lawsuit's hard work, Crude at least acknowledges the reason behind this shift
09/08/09
Berlinger doesn't counter Chevron's counter charges with facts and figures. With footage of petrochemical-sludge swamps and babies covered with flaming sores, he doesn't especially need to.
09/07/09
A stinging indictment of the huge Chevron corporation, which has been sued for despoiling the Ecuadorian Amazon to the severe detriment of the indigenous population.
09/04/09
It's impossible to watch this film and not come away with a personal vow never to patronize the Chevron corporation again.
09/04/09
Like "The Cove", this is inspiring and dramatically involving documentary film at its best.
08/30/09
Latest News for Crude
September 10, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 9 Looks Great, But The Plot's Weak
This week at the movies, we've got post-apocalyptic conflict (9, with voice work by Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly); Antarctic intrigue (Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale... More...
August 11, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
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