By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Avi Lewis
Country: canada
Year: 2005
Running time: 87
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426596/combined
Michael says: “Continuing the trend of political or socially conscious films, the Canadian team of writer Naomi Klein and director Avi Lewis (both political activists – Klein appeared in THE CORPORATION) offer their first documentary, THE TAKE. This sometimes powerful, sometimes annoying film examines the economy of Argentina, most notably the recent trend of factory workers claiming closed facilities as their own and running them equally in cooperatives, without management. Klein and Lewis do a good job providing a summary of Argentina’s economic woes since Peron, and providing a fascinating, albeit slanted look at political activism in Argentina in recent history. This is one of those films where the story is so powerful… so absorbing… that almost any film would be eminently watchable.
“Unfortunately, the filmmakers do what they can to get in the way of the story. The pair narrate the film, telling the story as it unfolds. This by itself would be fine. At first it seemed a little awkward, but their vocal presences become less intrusive as the subjects of the film get to do more of the talking. However the needless inclusion of the filmmakers into the film was unnecessary, self-serving, and at points grating. Clips of the filmmakers in their roles as political activists, being interviewed on television talk shows provided a little context to the story, but in what I felt was the most annoying inclusion, was during a riot over a closed suit factory. As violence breaks out and people flee from the police, several shots of the two filmmakers hurrying
through the streets, frantically trying to make phone calls becomes obnoxious. We know they are there… they’re filming. Why do we need to see them? They are not the subjects of the film? Or are they? If they had wanted to make a film about their exploration of Argentinian economics, they could have, and it would have looked much different (it also probably would not have been as good).
“While this technique did annoy me, it wasn’t used often enough to become a detriment to the film. THE TAKE presents an inspiring and powerful story, focusing on some truly amazing subjects. Unfortunately I do think the subject could have been handled even better with different filmmakers. 3 ½ cats.”