Review of Virunga (2014) by Tyler D — 27 Nov 2016

"You must justify why you are on this earth - gorillas justify why I am here, they are my life. So if it is about dying, I will die for the gorillas." This is uttered by one of the central characters in this harrowing and intense documentary titled Virunga which is a national park located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the documentary explores the deep seated corruption that underlies beneath the surface of the region.

And the costs that come when you are trying to protect a national park amidst a war. Director Orlando von Einsiedel captures the intensity and rawness of what it must be to be there by actually being there on foot among all the chaos and fighting. The camera beautifully captures the torn apart state of the region and the destruction that is being caused by the militia. The documentary centers on a three characters which are a journalist who is trying to uncover the devilish plot of a corporation, a Belgian officer who makes a stand against the rebellious militias who are overtaking the region in order to protect the national park, and finally a ranger who cares for orphaned mountain gorillas. These three stories never overlap one another but instead fed directly into the overall portrait which this documentary is trying to convey. Virunga hits home emotionally with the orphaned mountain gorillas and the love and passion the ranger André Bauman carries for them but it does not hit home on the violence it is trying to convict. It walks the line on what to show and what not to show to the audience and just makes us assume that the situation must be terrible instead of it actually showing us. Nevertheless, Virunga makes for a fascinating documentary thanks to it being able to handle three stories that all come together to form one larger whole to convey a powerful message. -- GSS.