The gentle narration by veteran actress Vanessa Redgrave is certainly like a non song Lullaby, and without a doubt, it's respectable for the character even in her mid-to-late 60s to find a cause as passionate as the desire to visit third world countries to witness their suffering firsthand. It seems everywhere she goes in her English home, she finds socialist everywhere, making conversations out of the blue over the state of the world, someone even leaving a book on her doorstep over social issues. I couldn't make heads or tails of a lot of what is shown in the book, and nor will I take the time to educate myself on the nonsensical way it is explained.
But what I found quite obvious is that a sophisticated older woman like Redgrave the way she is dressed couldn't walk around and not become a victim simply because of how people perceive her to be. A nice conversation with controversial reporter Michael Moore return to end up in these unnamed war-torn countries and dealings with characters played by the likes of Joely Richardson and Angelina Jolie ring false, especially Jolie who with slightly messed up hair still has a movie star look with perfect teeth and cosmetically altered lips which just makes that sequence all the more ridiculous.
The problem with this film is that it reveals the problems but never once gives a reasonable solution. Even in a gentle way. Redgrave speaks, you feel like you're having a finger wagged at you for enjoying any part of life and not giving thought to those suffering in other countries. A montage of the people on the street speaking their feelings is probably the wisest reaction as it shows real feelings and real people with their own struggles, giving what they can when they can. This doesn't give extremists of this nature much credit in what they are trying to accomplish when they try to manipulate people into feeling guilty. For that, this film doesn't really succeed. Where it does succeed is in showing how the way these problems had been dealt with in the past isn't always the right resolution and that basic human nature has survival has the priority with basic attempts to be generous when one can. The intentions were good, but the execution of the idea fails miserably.
But what I found quite obvious is that a sophisticated older woman like Redgrave the way she is dressed couldn't walk around and not become a victim simply because of how people perceive her to be. A nice conversation with controversial reporter Michael Moore return to end up in these unnamed war-torn countries and dealings with characters played by the likes of Joely Richardson and Angelina Jolie ring false, especially Jolie who with slightly messed up hair still has a movie star look with perfect teeth and cosmetically altered lips which just makes that sequence all the more ridiculous.
The problem with this film is that it reveals the problems but never once gives a reasonable solution. Even in a gentle way. Redgrave speaks, you feel like you're having a finger wagged at you for enjoying any part of life and not giving thought to those suffering in other countries. A montage of the people on the street speaking their feelings is probably the wisest reaction as it shows real feelings and real people with their own struggles, giving what they can when they can. This doesn't give extremists of this nature much credit in what they are trying to accomplish when they try to manipulate people into feeling guilty. For that, this film doesn't really succeed. Where it does succeed is in showing how the way these problems had been dealt with in the past isn't always the right resolution and that basic human nature has survival has the priority with basic attempts to be generous when one can. The intentions were good, but the execution of the idea fails miserably.