Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country (2009)

This absorbing documentary would have earned high praise under any circumstances, shot as it was at high risk, under what amounted to siege conditions -- but the May 2009 trial of Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who is part of the focus of the events depicted, makes it even more urgent as a viewing experience. In contrast to the often diffuse coverage that events in Burma have received on most network news services in America, this movie lays it on the line with laser-like precision and focus. There are a few incidental linking sequences that, of necessity, had to be re-created, but 98 percent of what we see and hear is vérité footage of a series of spontaneous uprisings against the ruling military government of Burma, with tens of thousands of civilians, gathering behind a protest by Buddhist monks, and the tragic consequences that followed as the military struck back. The material is raw and disturbing, and the bravery of the people shooting it unquestionable; at one point, we see on camera the execution of a Japanese journalist who was holding a camera during a protest. (Even George W. Bush, whose administration was filled with people who saw no problem with preventative detention of demonstrators, was sufficiently appalled by the Burma ruling junta to denounce the government on camera.) It's enough to make viewers feel guilty over relative obliviousness to this situation, which has prevailed for decades; much to the credit of the makers, it cannot make the ruling government in Burma happy to have it out there, which is the point from the get-go. The work is suspenseful and informative, and one comes away hoping that between those two attributes and the film's wide distribution, it is an endless source of trouble to the ruling junta. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide