The Fever

I kept waiting and waiting for the interesting twist. The flash of insight, the window into the human sole.

All I got - a pathetic excuse for marxist apologetics which glosses over any real politics with a healthy dose of hand-waiving. A waste of 83 minutes of my life which I will never get back.

If you are a socialist then there a far better films. If you are not then this is hardly in danger of challenging your convictions. Go read the motorcycle diaries!

It feels as if this was written by a guilty middle-class teenager who has just returned from a gap year funded by mummy and daddy. I am surprised that Michael Moore stooped to be in this film, his brief cameo is one of the few highlights of an otherwise lifeless and self-indulgent romp through cliché and rhetoric.

I saw this at the Virginia film festival and it was wonderful. Could have used better direction, but Vanessa Redgrave was marvelous nonetheless. As an added note, she did not get her son this film. He got it on his own and had her star in it. I thought it was a brilliant piece of work that could have been better but got its message across. It Was Wonderful And deserves much, much more Also, this film was a HUGE HIT at the festival. They had to add another day to screen it because it was sold out on its regular schedule and there was so much demand. So to those who don't like it, I say that the general public (At least those in Virginia) love it.

I wont go into a commentary about the structure of the film.However, I do find great trouble in the movies implication that many of us in the West are responsible for the misery of the people in the 3rd world. There is an insurmountable amount of evidence in the fields of economics and political science which clearly shows that much of the 3rd worlds suffering comes from poor political institutions. I guess the one area where it is appropriate to find fault with the West is there use of farm subsidies, which ultimately negatively affects the lives of millions of farmers in the 3rd world and consumers in the first world. However, arguing that the purchase of goods and services on the global market somehow creates poor people is a psychotically inaccurate message to promote, which this film does to a large degree. China, India, Ireland, and many emerging East Asian countries have grown much wealthier and in the process lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty precisely because we in the West buy goods and services from around the world. I sympathize with the film's intent to draw light on the plight of the poor, however, they have found precisely the wrong reasons for the 3rd world's poverty and an even worse remedy for the problem. Commerce amongst free people is something that should be championed and regarded in the same esteemed light as the freedom of speech.

I was just curious how I can go about watching or even possibly buying this movie. Thanks for your help. I have everything else she has made and I wanted to purchase this copy. I got one of her movies With out Evidence at of all places the Dollar store not to long ago. I was quite pleased with this. She is an excellent actor. I Have enjoyed All the movies shes made in the past and I can't wait to see her movie A Mighty Heart. As well as the rest of the movies she has coming out. I give her great praise on her life and wish her all the best. I just need help getting this Movie "The Fever" And I hope there's some one out there that can help me find this. Thanks for reading my babblings. Angel

This movie completely took me by surprise. I was a bit taken aback by a commenter here who found it odd that the main character had not been out in the "world". Until recently when the US government made it mandatory for citizens who carry a passport when visiting our neighbors Canada and Mexico, only 20% of Americans had passports. I.e, only 20% of Americans have a clue as to how hated we are in the world. But, I digress.

For every issue one can imagine, there are always two sides of the proverbial coin.

The character that Vanessa Redgrave plays is one who becomes aware that there are people in the world that work just as hard as she had in her lifetime who have less. Far less. And this is a message that for Americans (I cannot speak for anyone else in the world and do not presume to speak for all Americans) this is a difficult concept. For here anyone born into any circumstance has the possibility of making anything out of oneself with hard work and dedication. It is hard to conceive of countries where that is not a possibility.

In a foreign country and in the midst of a fever, a woman examines her upbringing, her circumstances, and her shock that not everyone who works hard attains prosperity. Her torment is merely what each and everyone of us should examine in our own lives, especially at a time when immigration is such an issue in the US, a country born to welcome the downtrodden from other countries. When her fever ends, she longs for her soft cotton sheets and other comforts of her home and that with which she is familiar. Yet she is changed. For she is awakened.

I think this film is one that everyone should see. And now that HBO has begun to air it, there is no excuse not to see it. It is not black and white. There are no clear cut villains or heroes. There are issues of entitlement but entitlement is an ongoing issue to any thinking person. It is something men take for granted that women will never know. It is something whites takes for granted that people of color will never know. Entitlement is often so subtle that it takes intense examination to truly understand what it is. And this is something "The Fever" undertakes. Everyone works hard. Why does it have pay offs for some and not for all? Don't disregard this film as just another "liberal" film. Let it seep into your soul and give it some real thought. For it is truly food for thought. It is food for the soul.

The scene with Micheal Moore and the conversation about the delicious ice cream is a powerful scene. It is one that can be applied daily here in the US (obviously not as milk). One can use the milk to make ice cream to increase tourism to a country and thus prosper the country. Or, it can be used to feed all the children (and thus prosper the country in a different manner).

Metaphysically this movie pits the concept of limitation against the concept of limitlessness. Methaphorically speaking, is there really only enough milk for one or the other? Does this movie perpetuate the illusion of the responsibility of fairness in the world when not only is that concept subjective but obviously (if only noted of birth circumstances) to be a falsehood? Or does this movie inspire us to strive to make the world a better place for all? Should one feel guilt when one realizes that ones hard work does not justify ones comfort, when in reality all work hard but are not all comfortable? And what steps should we take when that realization is made?

See this movie, if for no other reason than . . . to think. It deserves your thought.

What I thought of was that song, "he ain't heavy. He's my brother."