Review of The Whistleblower (2010) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

This is a very bleak, sobering film, not one that makes for easy viewing. Its quite harrowing and at times I found it hard to watch, however given the story, its a film that I suppose needed to be made. To think that such organisations may be, or ever did, knowingly keep such things covered up, is a scandal. The movie shows things from two points of view as it documents Kathryns journey to expose the cover up as well as showing the journey of two of the victims of Bosnian human trafficking.

The Bosnian war is referenced and its clear that the country was badly damaged by what happened many years ago. At the start and during many scenes there are subtitles present when the Bosnians (or/and Croats?) are speaking, so if your not keen on reading from subtitles then this may put you off, although it does make it seem more realistic, at least the locals don't magically speak English so that we can follow the story(!).

There are alot of issues to do with nationals, the authorities having no interest in helping victims who don't have full documentations to prove their nationality, which many people didn't, having been travelled from outside the Bosnian border illegally...this clearly being beaurocracy in action(!) its clear there's some hidden agenda from fairly early on and as the film develops, it only gets murkier. Kathryn builds quite a strong determination to help the women trapped and to expose the scandal - she comes across as quite strong willed and while lacking the backup she needs and being quite ill educated in how to go about it, she seems quite determined and shows plenty of emotional attachment. Rachel Weisz does a solid job portraying Kathryn I feel and giving equally strong performances are Vanessa Redgrave as Madeleine, who tries to help her and David Strathairn as Peter Ward, who we can't be sure if he's on Kathryn's side or not. There are some very tense moments between the trafficking victims and the authorities, its almost scarily realistic. Its a very tense movie in which emotions run high and it really brings home how broken society is or was in that region at that time. Some of the dialogue is sure to infuriate most viewers, those in authority defending what went on, claiming the victims are nothing more than 'whores of war - it happens!' claims someone who works high up in the UN, for one.

The movie is clearly quite dark, both in subject matter and also equally in lighting for the majority of it, so be advised to make sure your TV screen is quite clear from reflections etc. before watching, that might help. There aren't many action scenes in terms of car chases or fancy visual effects, although the scars and injuries shown among other things do all look hauntingly realistic. Its very tense and atmospheric and the camerawork is varied, with some shaky shots at certain points using different hiding places to film from adding to the tension somewhat, making it feel a bit grittier I suppose - there's one scene where the camera approaches Kathryn from behind while she's in the UN company building, making you wonder if someone was about to attack her and reinforcing the feeling that she's not safe, even where she should be. Also the background music and score also help to add to the very tense atmosphere throughout...towards the end, I was very engrossed in it and as the tension builds, you honestly wonder if Kathryn can make it out unscathed and who will back her and who won't. There is obviously violence, some moderate scenes are shown but there are, thankfully, no very graphic actual rape scenes and indeed this movie comes with a 15 rating and not an 18 rating, I'd imagine due to that - its grim enough as it is, I think that says it all.

The movie ends with (as is common with such based on real life events/true story movies), a black screen with white text across bringing the viewer up to speed on what happened after the events that had just been shown - the current status quo as it were and that is quite saddening to read as well, its certainly a movie that makes you think - can we really trust organisations to protect those they claim to be?.

Yes, I'd recommend this movie if the topic or plot is one that you feel intrigued by, although it won't be for everyone and isn't particularly easy viewing. The cast is decent and the movie is well filmed, its quite convincing with good performance and the use of camerawork (angles and shooting styles) as well as the background music and score help add to the tension. Knowing that this is inspired by actual events will probably make most viewers decide to tune in - I feel it was a well made movie, although its quite frustrating given what happened and it will likely make you question things but thats the point of it really, I suppose it is a movie that had to be made, if it makes you questions things, so thats good.