Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, wonderful, stupendous...
Review: And my raving can go on and on. I went to go see this movie on a whim, it was playing in a local independent movie theatre. It was captivating, educational, and outlined how the IMF uses so-called "Third World Countries" strips them of any independence, capitalizes off their natural resources while flooding them with cheap American imports. Definitely eye-opening and helped me to understand why so many people were protesting the IMF here in Washington, DC. I cannot stress enough the impact this film made on my life and how I see the US' foreign policy!
Rating: 
Summary: Not persuasive enough...!
Review: I should first explain that I had very high expectations for this movie, thinking it would make a good case for how free markets and globalization can sometimes destroy peoples lives in a merciless fashion. This movie was aimed only at trying to elicit anger at corporate greed, or at the IMF, but fails miserably in examining the root causes of Jamaica's problems.Where it succeeds: I was shocked at how high the interest rates collected by the IMF/World Bank are. I would have thought they would be on a par with an American "student loan"...! Also, the going-ons in the Free-trade zone certainly showed the dark side of corporate greed, and outlandish abuse of basic human rights of workers... For these, the movie gets 2 stars. Where it fails: Attempting to make tourists seem as uncaring, selfish, and self-absorbed, surely will not help the much needed tourist industry in Jamaica. Why shouldn't a tourist desire a trouble-free, guilt-free, and relaxing vacation? But, more importantly, did not do a good job of proving or even examining whether the industries affected by globalization are industries in which Jamaica WOULD enjoy a competitive advantage, given better fiscal policy or less restrictive conditions by the IMF and the World Bank. The film never answers what any sensible viewer might ask themselves: Why can't Jamaica develop a similar tourist economy, such as those present in Hawaii and Tahiti, which enjoy much higher standards of living, despite being further isolated, and also having to pay high prices to import most goods? If they are very different, how so? How could this difference be used to an advantage?
Rating: 
Summary: A must for anyone with a conscience
Review: I was shown this film a few weeks before I went to Jamaica over spring break to do volunteer work. It prepared me for what I was going to see in person in a way I hadn't expected. In addition, it made me understand that the work we would be doing -- building houses in a small, impoverished village -- was just a small part of the bigger picture. The bigger picture is what the film shows -- how globalization, the IMF and corporate greed have all played a part in destroying a nation's economy.
For those who feel that the film's portrayal of tourists is unfair, take a trip away from the beaches to where the film goes. The Kingston Free Zone, small villages where the residents live and work in shacks, etc. And the one place where the movie didn't go, at least not in my recollection -- the "poor house", where the sickest, oldest, and most impoverished citizens go-- but only after proving all of the above so that they can spend their time crawling or walking around in nothing more than a shirt. Then maybe you'll understand why the fimmaker has such a hard time understanding how people can spend $$ for a "bargain vacation" while people are suffering and breaking their backs just to put food on the table a few miles away.
This is a must see for anyone who is going to Jamaica, be it for a vacation or a mission. Please, don't allow yourself to live in ignorance.
Rating:
Summary: Harsh realities
Review: I'm a volunteer in Jamaica, and whenever anyone questions the value of development work in Jamaica ('beaches, ganja, reggae...'), I show them this film. I also can vouch for many of the opinions presented as accurate depictions of the realities of the impact of the IMF loans and globalization on the island. The extra features are especially valuable, letting the viewer get much of the information that is lost on those who aren't familiar with Jamaica beyond the confines of the resorts. It should be a must-see for anyone visiting 'on vacation'
Rating:
Summary: Harsh realities
Review: I'm a volunteer in Jamaica, and whenever anyone questions the value of development work in Jamaica ('beaches, ganja, reggae...'), I show them this film. I also can vouch for many of the opinions presented as accurate depictions of the realities of the impact of the IMF loans and globalization on the island. The extra features are especially valuable, letting the viewer get much of the information that is lost on those who aren't familiar with Jamaica beyond the confines of the resorts. It should be a must-see for anyone visiting 'on vacation'
Rating:
Summary: life and debt
Review: If you can get yourself past the heavyhanded judgment now and then (of nearly all tourists in Jamaica, for example), this movie does an excellent job of quantifying the questionable role of the World Bank in Jamaica's domestic affairs. Under the guise of assistance from above for the island to join the world economy, instead what we witness is a systematic deterioration of Jamaican business enterprises while the "world" takes advantage wherever it can.
I must say that previous to viewing this film, I was hardly convinced that the demonstrators at World Bank events weren't ideologues of the type I usually find painful to listen to. Now, I'm not convinced still, but I sure am interested to investigate the veracity of this film's thesis.
I much enjoyed the scenes of everyday workers in various enterprises on the island. Their testaments have the ring of truth to them. The montage of the film is well balanced. The overall effect is compelling.
Rating:
Summary: FIVE STARS, FIFTY STARS--ABSOLUTELY MUST BUY.
Review: If you care about the effects of US-dominated economic policies upon so-called developing nations ("developing" a euphemism for economically terrorized, left-to-bleed-to-death, etc.)... if it matters to you what is being done to them in our name (for the benefit of citizens of US & the rich nations) you MUST HAVE THIS. Don't even think about it. Don't even read any other reviews... let the raw power of the film hit you straight up. Mere words don't get it. See the faces of the oppressed. Hear their stories. Then get involved. Send copies to everybody, legislators, business leaders, libaries. Get creative. Get on the internet (global exchange, democracy now, etc). Otherwise the terror will continue... in our name.
Rating:
Summary: Life & Debt...
Review: Jamaica Kincaid's voice-over adaptation from her book "A Small Place" was compelling. I thought the movie was very good and displayed some painful truths - I was in Jamaica and I witnessed the poverty and the shantytowns - unfinished buildings because the intrest rate is astronomical - usury basically - most of us are oblivious to all of this as we bask in the sun and enjoy the beauties of the island. i loved jamaica, it is the home of my grandparents - however the poverty and economics, due to their enormous indebtedness to the IMF, is disheartenting. June 2001 1 US dollar = 45 in Jamaica!!! The movie discloses all of this - very enlightening - it will make you realize how fortunate we really are - i would see it again.
Rating:
Summary: beautifully shot expose of injustice
Review: Life and Debt is a compilation documentary, utilizing narration to place the viewer in the place of a tourist, and tries to articulate the comparison between a tourist going to Jamaica for enjoyment as opposed to the islanders who must deal with the everyday struggles of living. Citizens, tourists, and leaders of the country are interviewed through the film, and, in addition to the time spent examining shorelines at sunset and slowing down footage for Harry Belafonte songs, the film also takes a look inside the factories, homes, and farms of the local residents. It examines their strive and the unbelievably unfortunate difficulties presented with globalization.
Life and Debt is interesting as it is not merely informative as a documentary, but nicely made as a film as well. It seems to follow a logical arc of events in that its assembly is coherent and natural. Events depicted seem to follow after the one previously presented, and the narrative flows very smoothly, making the film very accessible despite its exposure of the tragic effects of globalization. This film uses an overall structure of logical information, that corporations aren't good for the people of nations with small economies, and intersperses that with ponderings of cultural discrepancy.
It is also an interesting film due to its efficient and often quite beautiful cinematography. It seems that this is not the priority of documentaries to bother with the artfulness of cinematography, but this one does so. The entire film is lit in an efficient way, suppressing an otherwise grainy landscape for favor of a very natural-looking higher form of lighting. The beauty in its composition is especially prevalent in the beach scenes and scenes involving nature as the narrator puts the audience in the place of the tourist and native.
Life and Debt, while being efficient in its delivery of information, and allowing itself to be interesting, is a special documentary because of its insistence on being an artful film as well. All technical fronts are more than efficient, allowing the film to exist as a well-made film that exposes injustice as well as privilege. It is a documentary in that it represents a certain people and the workings of their country, yet it has characteristics of a narrative film in that it is technically astute and keeps the attention of the viewer very seamlessly. It definitely gives the viewer truths and is very much a documentary, but its infused with an artfulness that allows it to be one step closer to the efficiency in storytelling that exists in narrative film.
Rating:
Summary: The flip side of what tourists see
Review: Narrated by Jamaica Kincaid based on her non-fiction book, "A Small Place," her familiar honey-toned voice captures the cadence of the islands. "If you come to Jamaica as a tourist, this is what you will see..." The camera then focuses on well-fed and happy tourists. They eat sumptuous meals. ("You'd be surprised to find out that every bite of food you eat comes off a plane from Miami.") They enjoy the view from their rooms ("You probably don't know that the sewage from the hotel is going straight into the ocean") Basically though, this film is about economics and the changes that have occurred in the years since the British left in the 1960s and Jamaica had to borrow money from international lending institutions. Former Prime Minister Michael Manley describes how the interest is so high that it keeps the economy constantly in a debt that keeps growing. And Jamaican money is so devalued that it is cheaper to buy imports rather than produce them itself. Just a few years ago, farmers got good prices from raising chickens and there was large plant to process them, giving people jobs. The factories are closed now and the farmers can't sell their chickens because of cheaper imports. Also, there is a special free trade zone where garments are put together for such companies such as Hanes. Everything is delivered to the factory pre-cut and ready to sew and the workers toil long hours for no more than $30 per week. During the course of the filming, even that factory closed to reopen in another third-world country where the labor might be even cheaper. All this is contrasted with constant cuts to the tourists who are frolicking at the hotels and enjoying themselves in such silly games as beer drinking contests. The film is done well, and the cinematography and direction are excellent. I was able to follow the points being made about the economic issues and, although I know I don't have enough background in the subject to really understand it completely, there was no doubt about how the economy is collapsing. Even their banana exports are being threatened. This film is definitely worth seeing.
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