Farmingville (2004)
Sober documentary about the Long Island town of Farmingville and its reaction to an influx of illegal Mexican immigrant day-laborers. The film got on my nerves a bit for cloaking itself in 'impartiality' while all the while making abundantly clear which side of the argument it was endorsing -- I prefer my liberal docs to be up front with their biases, and faux-impartiality is damned difficult to pull off (not everyone can be Hell House). But the inherent drama in the situation doesn't make it necessary to throw much spin on it, so that's a minor quibble. Worth seeing, if only to understand how many people apparently don't realize that American capitalism has always been built on the backs of cheap immigrant labor, but be forewarned that it's not gonna make you feel good about your friends and neighbors.
Grade: B
Sober documentary about the Long Island town of Farmingville and its reaction to an influx of illegal Mexican immigrant day-laborers. The film got on my nerves a bit for cloaking itself in 'impartiality' while all the while making abundantly clear which side of the argument it was endorsing -- I prefer my liberal docs to be up front with their biases, and faux-impartiality is damned difficult to pull off (not everyone can be Hell House). But the inherent drama in the situation doesn't make it necessary to throw much spin on it, so that's a minor quibble. Worth seeing, if only to understand how many people apparently don't realize that American capitalism has always been built on the backs of cheap immigrant labor, but be forewarned that it's not gonna make you feel good about your friends and neighbors.
Grade: B
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home