It was somewhat satisfying to see 'You've Been Trumped', a documentary about local resistance to American tycoon Donald Trump's bullying tactics in pursuit of building a luxury golf course in Aberdeenshire, at the DCA last night.
The film is being shown in the DCA's Cinema Republic slot which allows cinema-goers to choose the movie they'd most like to see. 'You've Been Trumped' enjoyed a short run at the DCA earlier in the year and thanks to public support has been brought back. The Sunday night show that I attended was sold out.
There has been a recent proliferation of 'campaigning docs' where the filmmakers have produced work in clear support of ordinary people suffering at the hands of corporate power. Morgan Spurlock's 'Super Size Me' is notable not as the first example of a filmmaker doing this but possibly the first time their work received any degree of mainstream popularity. For a while his grinning mustachioed face seemed to be everywhere. Yes, 'McLibel' came first but it was Spurlock who produced a slick, snappy, highly-watchable film, taking campaigning docs out of the realm of short run screenings in front of small groups of activists and securing them a tentative place on the fringes of the mainstream.
Anthony Baxter's 'You've Been Trumped' follows suit with the director actually being arrested during filming on, to put it mildly, dubious grounds by officers of a police force more concerned with defending the business interests of multi-billionaire Trump than the rights and welfare of the local population.
Baxter's film covers a lot of ground and features plenty of well defined characters including local man Michael Forbes described by Trump as "a pig" living in "a virtual slum", the servile mainstream media who in the film's best scene appear outlined on the sanddunes in their reflective yellow vests scurrying after the billionaire at an invite-only press call and of course Trump himself who appears as a bully, uncaring about anyone who does not serve him.
The synopsis on the film's website points out that 'You've Been Trumped' is told entirely without narration. Narration is quite rightly viewed by many documentary filmmakers as a blunt tool used to bludgeon understanding from the perceived dim-witted brains of their audiences and, therefore, often avoided by the best at their craft. However, if you're not going to use narration you had better be sure that you know how to allow characters to tell their own stories. In this respect 'You've Been Trumped' initially feels a little lacking in structure, uncomfortable in allowing the characters to speak for themselves without cutaways and overdubbing. However, after the scene where Baxter is slammed onto the bonnet of a car by officers from Grampian Police the movie really begins to breathe and we're treated to a fantastic story of resistance in the face of seemingly insurmountable intimidation.
Anthony Baxter's 'You've Been Trumped' follows suit with the director actually being arrested during filming on, to put it mildly, dubious grounds by officers of a police force more concerned with defending the business interests of multi-billionaire Trump than the rights and welfare of the local population.
Baxter's film covers a lot of ground and features plenty of well defined characters including local man Michael Forbes described by Trump as "a pig" living in "a virtual slum", the servile mainstream media who in the film's best scene appear outlined on the sanddunes in their reflective yellow vests scurrying after the billionaire at an invite-only press call and of course Trump himself who appears as a bully, uncaring about anyone who does not serve him.
The synopsis on the film's website points out that 'You've Been Trumped' is told entirely without narration. Narration is quite rightly viewed by many documentary filmmakers as a blunt tool used to bludgeon understanding from the perceived dim-witted brains of their audiences and, therefore, often avoided by the best at their craft. However, if you're not going to use narration you had better be sure that you know how to allow characters to tell their own stories. In this respect 'You've Been Trumped' initially feels a little lacking in structure, uncomfortable in allowing the characters to speak for themselves without cutaways and overdubbing. However, after the scene where Baxter is slammed onto the bonnet of a car by officers from Grampian Police the movie really begins to breathe and we're treated to a fantastic story of resistance in the face of seemingly insurmountable intimidation.
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