A confoundingly mercurial figure, Fujimori is a fascinating subject. But in her focus on the man, Perry fails to paint a broader picture of a racially diverse and extremely complex country marked by sharp class and socioeconomic contrasts.
It never loses sight of the grim reality behind Fujimori's eccentricities, or the thousands of people arrested, kidnapped, raped, tortured, executed or, simply, 'disappeared.'
The Fall of Fujimori couldn't happen along at a more pregnant moment for America, as we agonize over how far we are willing to let our own leaders fudge the rules to stamp out terrorists.
Her film remains an intriguing portrait, even if its acceptance of Fujimori's shrugging demeanor and blame- storming serve to detour our concern from its proper place.
As documaker Ellen Perry seems keenly aware, there is really no need to embellish the Fujimori story, which has enough unlikely melodrama for six Italian operas.
EXCELLENT documentary. I'm from Peru, and although I didn't live there past the age of three and was really young during Fujimori's terms, I do remember visiting many times during this, including once when the Japanese ambassador's residence, which was then located by my great-grandmother's house, underwent a bombing,
so it brought back a lot. Held my interest and actually gave me a better understanding of what happened.
March 11, 2010
Mariana Arevalo
If you want to see the adage "absolute power corrupts absolutely" play out in a real-life situation, you'll want to see this flick. Here's a guy whose intentions were more honorable than his methods.
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