8 (2008)

8 (2008). 8: Directed by Jane Campion, Gael García Bernal, Jan Kounen, Mira Nair, Gaspar Noé, Abderrahmane Sissako, Gus Van Sant, Wim Wenders. With Nigist Anteneh, Tefera Gizaw, Fekadu Kebede, Ingvar Sigurdsson. 8 shorts centered around 8 themes directed by 8 famous film directors involved and sharing their opinion on progress, on the set-backs and the challenges our planet faces today.

“The purpose of 8 is to address the agreement of 191 governments to halve world poverty by 2015. These are defined under the following Millennium Development Goals: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger; Achieve Universal Primary Education; Promote Gender Equality; Reduce Child Mortality; Improve Maternal Health; Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases; Ensure Environmental Sustainability; Global Partnership for Development. At the halfway point towards meeting those goals, the problem doesnu0026#39;t appear to have drastically altered, and eight filmmakers of international renown have been gathered to examine just how serious the position is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe best films in 8 tend to be those that get the point across through simple human stories rather than by adhering too closely to the rather dry themes and statistics. Such is how Gael García Bernal deals with the subject from the surprising location of Iceland in u0026quot;The Letteru0026quot;, capturing with simplicity and beautiful cinematography a discussion between a father and his young son, who is working on a school project about the Nepal region, about the impact of the failure of a nation to achieve basic Primary Education. Jane Campion also rises to the challenge in u0026quot;The Water Diaryu0026quot; in relation to Environmental Sustainability, showing the tough decisions that have to be made in a small outback community waiting desperately for the rains, building their hopes, fears, disappointments and indeed tears into a fantastical dream. Jan Kounen also finds a mythical aspect to the human condition in his Peruvian Amazon story (one of many similar stories showcased in Amnesty Internationalu0026#39;s short documentary u0026#39;Poverty of Justiceu0026#39; seen in accompaniment to the film) of the difficulties and dangers of mortality facing women giving birth in remote regions. The mix of documentary reconstruction and traditional storytelling through native song and dance in u0026quot;The Story of Panshin Bekau0026quot; is given additional force through some striking black-and-white cinematography.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTipping the balance either one way or the other towards a higher average of good sections over bad is Abderrahmane Sissakou0026#39;s opening piece. Sissakou0026#39;s brilliance in the area of inventive politically-charged film-making is not in doubt after his last feature Bamako, and u0026quot;Tiyau0026#39;s Dreamu0026quot; is beautifully filmed, showing the situation facing real people in African nations, but he makes his point rather too calculatedly and deliberately referential through a school lesson on… the 8 goals of the Millennium Development Goal. Borderline also is Gaspar Noéu0026#39;s u0026quot;SIDAu0026quot;, which at least has the benefit of the directoru0026#39;s customary power and directness, relating of the case of a man dying from AIDS in his own words with only edgy, colour-saturated portraiture cinematography and a pounding heartbeat, and making it still rather intense.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThose missing the mark completely for me are Mira Nairu0026#39;s segment u0026quot;How Can It Be?u0026quot; and Gus Van Santu0026#39;s u0026quot;Mansion On The Hillu0026quot;, Nair taking on Gender Equality towards freedom of expression of a Muslim wanting a divorce from her husband to live with another man. Even if it means she may be making a wrong decision towards her blameless husband and son, she deserves the choice to make her own mistakes. Gus Van Sant, for his part, simply seems to have missed the brief entirely and just given the producers some left-over footage of teenage skateboarders for them to put TV advertisement boldface facts, figures and slogans on the Child Mortality.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWim Wenders, unsurprisingly ends up being the most problematic, the directoru0026#39;s film-making talent still obvious, but increasingly buried in heavy-handed messages. u0026quot;Person to Personu0026quot; is likewise admirable in its intent, but fails in its execution. He attempts to offer a corrective to the traditionally dry, preachy editorialising of news reports and documentaries on the subject of the Third World, by showing that direct action between the people in these countries can have an impact without the need for government intervention. Itu0026#39;s a sharply filmed and edited piece and admirable also for its concision in explaining just how this can be achieved, but it doesnu0026#39;t manage to avoid sounding preachy and didactic itself.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile there is certainly then some minor brilliance evident throughout individual segments of 8 and some strong points made on the grave consequences for the world should there be a failure to meet the Millennium Development Goals, the Wenders segment, ending as it does with footage of Bono chanting from the stage, does give the impression of the whole exercise being one of well-meaning good intentions, but one that by its very nature will inevitably end up preaching only to the converted who are willing to pay to go and see it, but which is no more likely to spur those with the power to effect change to honour those commitments they have made.”