Operation Filmmaker (2007)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Nina Davenport

Writer:

Nina Davenport (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Soon after the fall of Baghdad in 2003, a young and charismatic film student, Muthana Mohmed, stands...

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Alberto Bonilla	...	Himself
Steven Chinni	...	Himself
Nina Davenport	...	Herself
Eugene Hutz	...	Himself
Dwayne Johnson	...	Himself (as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson)
Doug Jones	...	Himself
Muthana Mohmed	...	Himself
Janett Ohoven	...	Herself
Peter Saraf	...	Himself
Liev Schreiber	...	Himself
Elijah Wood	...	Himself

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Baghdad, Iraq

Movie Connections:

References Doom (2005)

Davenport's List

Nina Davenport's "Operation Filmmaker" folds in on itself so much that it is difficult to define it. This is the opposite of the documentary "Born into Brothels," a thoughtful and complex morality tale of the Western world's attempts to intervene and do good around the world. Yet you probably won't like the moral, as we intervene to do good in much the same ways that we intervene and do bad.

In short, the film gave me a lot to think about. Its reflexiveness fought with my head and the many stereotypes - most of them I did not even know I held - living within it.

For one, Muthana was absolutely confounding. I am so used to the stereotype of the hard- working and industrious foreigner who is just itching to succeed once he tastes the first golden drops of American freedom that his attitude was a complete shock and outrage to me. Yet it is I who should be ashamed of my assumptions of him and the person I was projecting onto him. Seeing him as either an angel or devil misses the point that we like to see people as either angels or devils.

Then there's the stereotype of the altruistic, privileged person who steps in to "make a difference." All of those "making a difference" - even the documentarian herself - do not end up looking good, because the film very successfully shows that their goal was to make themselves look good. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson comes off as especially insincere.

This brings me to a third stereotype: heavenly Leftist activists versus evil right wing Republicans. Ironically, the attitude of the celebrity "do gooders," although they may feel themselves the exact opposite of Bush/Cheney and company, is suspiciously close to the attitudes of those who got us into Iraq. They barge in with little information about the culture and little interest in the wellbeing of the people they are helping. They then become upset when Muthana fights the pull of the leash that he is expected to tow.

If I had to sum up the film as a whole, I would say it is about the cultural insensitivity and expectations that lead the U.S. into such conflicts as Iraq. I was surprised that I held these beliefs as well.

Thus a final stereotype may be my own wish to feel politically conscious by watching a film about saving an Iraqi's life. I think one scene in the film, the ironic juxtaposition of the phony carnage of the film "Doom" with the very real carnage of Iraqi bombing, says it all. There is an entire industry of documentaries for people like me - well-educated, liberal people who watch them and feel good that they have been enlightened. These films, more than any action film, trade in human misery. I can watch endless documentaries about evil corporations, governments and other bad people who are not me. Then I can recycle, drive a hybrid car, avoid red meat and feel smug about being part of the solution, not the problem. For me, the film was an uncomfortable personal journey back into myself.