I knew I had to see this film...one of the story threads is about a tourist visiting Morocco who gets shot in the neck and her husband has to deal with the event in a remote area in Northern Africa. When I saw the promos....I recognized the land and the type of situation facing these characters.
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When I crossed Africa a few months back, I remember Alberto, our trip leader, strongly suggesting we do not injure ourselves in northern Niger as well as in the Tenere desert. It seems the Niger government didn't have helicopters for medical missions and because of political problems...air space regulations would prohibit outside/foreign helicopters from coming into the country. In other words, we would be 2-3 days out from any type of assistance that wasn't contained in the medical box we carried with us.
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Overall, although this movie was so much more complex than its African thread.....I was startled by how well the film captured the feeling of this part of Africa as well as the reactions of the tourists. I'm usually quiet at the movies....but I kept nudging my daughter and saying...."Oh...that's exactly how it would be with those tourists" and I wondered how the film maker could have known so much and captured so much in the screen play.
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I don't want to ruin the movie for you if you haven't seen it.....but the prejudice, fear, and self-centered-ness of some people from the "first world" meeting the "third world" was right on target. The tourists on the bus are so uneasy in the village they entered to get help for the wounded woman....they've been on their air-conditioned bus...safe and sound and looking out their windows...perfectly content to have an arm's length view of Africa and its people. Now...they have to interact with the villagers and they're uncomfortable and suspicious and totally self-absorbed. When the bus takes off leaving the wounded woman and her husband behind......I whispered to my daughter...."you know my group would have left someone behind too if they were ruining the itinerary." That's an awful sad commentary....on some people who travel the world.....but for some folks having your passport stamped and saying "I've been there" is more important than actually knowing where you have been and who was there.
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The reviews of the movie don't comment about the happy ending of this thread. Eventually, a U.S. helicopter goes into the village and air lifts the woman out to a medical center for help. The thing that struck me with this ending that you would normally cheer for....is how arrogant it is....you see this million-dollar helicopter swoop down on this poor village....everyone rushing to get the white woman out....everyone helping to get her safely into the helicopter....and I couldn't help feeling and saying to myself....why is she so important? Because she is white and American? How many people in that village have suffered and died from accidents and injuries ...and no one comes rushing in with even a donkey...
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I felt that..."Why-am-I- so-important question" when I was getting my immunizations for Africa. A shot here...a shot there....all to save me....Why do I matter in comparison to some Africans? Why must I be protected from things they normally face?.....It's a question I don't want to hear myself answer....because it involves $$ and status...and fate and luck of birth....and it's painful to face that truth.
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As I said, the film is so much more than this thread.....it's a heart-wrenching and complicated look at people misunderstanding and misjudging each other.....and as you weave together and figure out the movie (it's told in segments that you have to put together) your heart sinks at the reality of how our actions...even small ones ...can domino and affect so many people.... An amazing but difficult movie.......
