For some reason in recent history, everyone remembers Afghanistan and Iraq as the wars that were declared with mainly corrupt desires in mind. Yet, whenever the wars in the Balkans are mentioned all assume that due to supposed humanitarian intervention what occurred was in fact a moral war. Obviously, as a Serb, I find difficulties accepting this. There were various corrupt reasons behind the war that are unexplored by the majority of the mainstream press and the more you dig into the war the more you realize that corruption did not just exist within the Balkans but also and arguable mainly from outside influences.
Therefore, finding out about a film such as
the Whistleblower was a welcome surprise. It is a film that surprisingly has a
cast composed of actors with Hollywood experience regardless of its independent
distributor. Based on a true story it is all located in Bosnia’s Sarajevo and
follows the journey of Rachel Weisz’s ex police officer as a U.N peacekeeper.
What unravels in her experience in Bosnia is the discovery of human trafficking
within the country that stems so deep in corruption that even the U.N’s top bosses
are involved in it.
Such truths about corruption seem to be
little known in modern society and the revelation that it occurred and that it
was supported by supposedly peaceful, western organizations should shock the
core of any decent human being and reinvent their understanding not only of the
Balkans but any society. Yet such shocking disclosures are never really exposed
in the mainstream press regardless of their coverage of it or are much
discussed by those who have heard about them.
This means that the people of the Balkans
remain as the archetype of primitiveness and not many seem intent to change
this. When Serbia or Bosnia or any of the other Balkan countries are mentioned,
talk of genocide is never far away. When word is spoken about America or
Britain should a journalist bring up previous historical atrocities such as
slavery or more recent atrocities such as the MK Ultra experiments of the 50s? Perhaps
this is the chip on the shoulder all of us from the Balkans must bear but
here’s hoping more truths like this, not just about our war, but about all wars
and corruption become revealed so that all may wake up from this comatose state
in which evil is believed to be only in and the consequence of foreign
countries.
Regardless, politics aside, the film itself
is decent. As with any film that intends to be an exploitation or a
representation of shocking truths the film mainly centers on the repulsive truth,
which in this case means the disgusting treatment of the trafficked women and
the inhuman reaction of those in charge. Plot twists are nothing too unexpected
and characters are not much dwelt on. Rachel Weisz has a sub-plot that involves
a daughter but not much is mentioned about it past the start. Her performance is,
however, strong. Her role as a woman tormented by the authorities in charge trapped
in a near impossible situation is well played with Weisz displaying the anguish
with relative ease.
But there is not much to say unfortunately
past this. The film is decent as a tense thriller but the power of the film
lies in the fact that the events are real and sparsely covered, not great
scriptwriting or innovative photography. If this film were not based on truth
it would almost seem to be your typical, well-produced thriller stocked full of
typically shocking twists and characters. The best way to react to the film is
therefore to realize that the evils that you thought could only be imagined
have actually in fact happened and that worst of all, not much is being done to
stop it.
