Reviews
The Ungrateful Dead: In Search of International Justice

Narrated by Peter Gabriel

GLOBE & MAIL Review

The Critical List

This week's programs reviewed by Henrietta Walmark

SUNDAY. History, 7 p.m.

Ungrateful Dead: In Search of International Justice

"Never again" was the premise and the promise of Nuremberg. But in the half a century following the trials of the military and political leaders of Nazi Germany, international justice languished. As the world moved into the 21st century, there was barbarity in the Balkans, terror in northern Uganda where the resistance army abducted children as soldiers and sex slaves, the horrific 100-day massacre in Rwanda and, more recently, shocking prisoner brutality in Iraq and the on-going genocide in Darfur. And the perpetrators of these unspeakable war crimes largely operated with impunity as the world's nations attempted to establish a meaningful International Criminal Court.

Veteran indie filmmaker Judy Jackson wends her way through this bruising thicket of war atrocities and early attempts to establish far-reaching tribunals to punish war criminals. And while the U.S. refuses to support the 100-nation-strong ICC -- Tom Delay calls it a kangaroo court and Dubya claims American soldiers will be targeted for prosecution -- Canadians have played a key role in its formation, from UN human rights commissioner Louise Arbour to former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy to ICC president Philippe Kirsh. Jackson unravels the politics and the personalities at the forefront of a renewed search for international justice, but it's the individual stories of war victims that resonate. There are graphically gruesome scenes as well as many heartbreaking ones. When Jackson asks to interview a mother, unable to work because she contracted AIDS after being raped by soldiers, and her six children as they have their lunch, the woman reveals that they have nothing to eat. The older five are stoic but the youngest shyly admits that he cries from hunger. While Jackson gives credit to the U.S. for abstaining from a UN vote that then allows the ICC to move forward in the case of Darfur, the victims' stories drive the 90-minute documentary and should be required viewing for the powerful holdouts in the White House who are cutting off aid to countries that support the ICC.

CANWEST.CANADA.COM Review

REVIEW BY ALEX STRACHAN

Ungrateful Dead: The Search for International Justice

History Television, 9:30 p.m.

Ungrateful Dead is a powerful, often thought-provoking two-hour documentary about Canada's role in shaping the International Criminal Court.

It sounds predictable, sanctimonious and deadly dull, but it isn't really. The filmmakers could have taken the lazy, easy route -- you know exactly what I mean, and who I'm talking about -- but despite the occasionally strident narration, there's a lot about this film to recommend it. And not just the clever title.

Ungrateful Dead focuses on three incidences of war crimes -- in Kosovo, Central Africa and Iraq -- and it manages to bring those terrible events to life through carefully managed witness interviews, well-chosen archival footage and a haunting, evocative musical score that actually helps the film, rather than working against it, as so many documentary film scores do.

The filmmakers spend time with their subject, too; at two hours, this isn't one of those quickie skim jobs but a thoughtful, well-researched look at a thorny, often complex subject.

By scheduling Ungrateful Dead on a crowded viewing night in the middle of November sweeps, the nitwits who program network schedules have once again ensured that virtually no one will see it.

That's a shame, because this is a film that really is worth looking for. If you're even remotely interested about what's going on in the world, and Canada's role in it, Ungrateful Dead is a keeper.