Review of Blood in the Mobile (2010) by Mike M — 02 Nov 2011

There's a dead half-hour at the start of the film, as Poulsen is left stranded in the Nokia HQ foyer when the company's PRs shut down the lines of communication (a familiar Moore-ian trope), then heads to the Congo itself only to be refused access to the mines in question; we realise the market for documentaries is such that filmmakers can now afford to put even their failures on screen, in the assumption that the burden of proof lies with their targets, and that these shut-outs will do some of the legwork for them.

(I am not quite certain this is the case.)... Once Poulsen finally obtains access to the mines, the film becomes more revelatory yet: conditions (slum housing surrounding improvised mine shafts) appear hellish and perilous enough even before one factors in the presence of men with guns taking 'taxes' off workers at the point of entry.

The locals, whether jokingly or not, demand that Poulsen, too, pay them for the privilege of filming them, and one twigs that everything in this part of the world has been reduced to a transaction: it's either pay or die, a choice you half-suspect certain corporations would rather like to impose on even the developed nations.

After this trip, we're plonked right back in the lobby, where Poulsen attempts to set up meetings with spokespeople who either don't want to talk to him or can only offer empty-sounding promises - material that feels more worthy of a making-of, rather than a feature proper; that has the ring of framing, rather than content.

The whole does just about enough to have you chewing over the original assertion, but it does have the feel of a punchy hour-long episode of "Dispatches" that keeps getting lost in reception.