Bulletproof Salesman

This disturbing film had its World Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. It is a troubling film about a man who makes it his business to make money as a war profiteer and is proud of it. German war profiteer Fidelis Cloer clearly enjoys his work selling armored cars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a microcosm of the capitalist system. He exists to make money and war is simply an extension of business to him. He wants to make the best product and sell it and thus protect his clients. He doesn't seem to care that his products are used as part of a war machine. He seems to have no political conscience or concern. He went to Iraq at the beginning of the war in 2003, because he believed things would get worse and there would be an opportunity to profit.

This is the 3rd Iraq war film by Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker and like the others it is a powerful picture of the nature and excesses of war. Where the others were more specifically about elements of the Iraq War, this film is more about the nature of war itself and the infrastructure of people and economics that support it. Cloer is ultimately a bloodless weapon of war just like the equipment that he sells.

Like their other films, they let the characters speak for themselves cinema verite style without providing commentary and analysis. This can be both a strength and a weakness. In this case, Cloer seems to call out for commentary, context and analysis that the film doesn't provide. Some context would strengthen their film and make their points clearer to a wider audience. This film should be seen, because it raises fundamental questions about the nature of the relationship between war and capitalism.

I think that the filmmakers actually related to Cloer, because they understood that in some way they are also war profiteers making money off of the violence of war. On the other hand, they should consider whether Cloer is using them to advertise his products and make more money off of war. It is difficult to determine whether the film ends up exposing Cloer or promoting him. Perhaps a bit of both.

BULLETPROOF SALESMAN admirably demonstrates that, "War is Great For Business". Fidelis Cloer is a salesman of high priced German armored automobiles, and it is his job to travel to the hottest war zones on the planet, and sell 'safety' and 'protection'. He freely, and somewhat comically, reveals that he is very much, 'For War', and, 'Against Peace'. He deflects any real moral responsibility, and his only defense seems to be that if he didn't provide this service, then someone else would, and more people would die. I think that all Americans should think long and hard the next time that they hear the following phrase.... "Our soldiers are sacrificing their lives so that we can enjoy our American Freedoms", and ask why corporations cannot do the same? If the profit motive was removed from War, then I think that our foreign policy would drastically change. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the corruption which occurred in Iraq soon after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Cloer claims that the corrupt practices were initiated by American companies who were quick to grab for the billions of government dollars which were pumped into this beleaguered nation, and as soon the new Iraqi government was in place, they quickly followed suit. Following The Rush To War, almost no oversight was initiated and all kinds of double dealing and financial manipulations began to occur. Cloer's company no longer sells in Iraq because now these government officials demand a payment before they will even listen to a sales pitch. I think that it will be fifty years or more before the real truth about the depth and breadth of this corruption is fully revealed. And, because our Media Military Industrial Complex has become 'bulletproof', I don't even know if it will make one iota of difference. BULLETPROOF SALESMAN addresses many interesting and provocative ideas, and alludes to many more.