The Fall of Fujimori

The movie was a riveting account of the personal struggles of a man thrust into the daunting position of leading an entire country out of chaos that was Peru in the 1980's. Not only was it educational for me from a historical perspective, the director Ellen Perry did well to add a human dimension to the drama. The viewers were able to see how the dramatic and traumatic events of an entire nation and of ultimate responsibility personally affected Mr. Fujimori and his family.

Ms. Perry did well to give the viewer the space to decide their own verdicts and make their own opinions. I could see why Japan reveres the exiled leader as a hero. I could see why he is hated by some. She balanced the factual documentary style with the energy of human drama to make the film well worth watching.

For Ms. Perry to have a film of this magnitude under her belt at such a young age, speaks volumes about her abilities and gives everyone much to look forward to.

Either you become what you hate, or you fall victim to what you hate. THE FALL OF FUJIMORI can almost be viewed as a "political morality tale". This film demonstrates what happens when a hugely popular anti-terrorist Peruvian president transforms into something much worse than his enemy, or maybe, he does not. The filmmakers go out of their way to offer an in-depth, and multifaceted account of an important South American leader. And, in the end, I don't think that you can easily peg this man as a demon or a saint. I think that the case can be made that this man was a swindler and a crook, and, equally that he was a man who was absolutely driven by 'reform' at any cost. Maybe human beings, and especially political leaders, are just too convoluted to be pigeon holed. Absorbing and complex.

I think it is a successful effort to portray an enormously complex set of facts in a very short amount of time. The film does show what the other commentators want to ignore: that Fujimori was probably the most popular politician in Peru's modern history. He was credited for saving Peru from the two-headed hydra: hyperinflation and Khmer Rouge-type terrorism. He was, as well, fatally flawed, and both sides are evenly shown in the film. The director managed to obtain some extraordinary footage: she includes, for instance, a home video taken by Hiro, Fujimori's teenage son, showing his dad and sinister Mr. Montesinos plotting how to cover something up. How did she manage to obtain that footage and also have unlimited access to the ex-president in exile? Given that the director is an attractive young American, perhaps the movie should more properly be called The Seduction of Fujimori.

I saw the Fall of Fujimori at Sundance, with two senior Latin America diplomats, and we were all completely fascinated and impressed beyond belief by this film. Every filmmaker tackling a difficult subject should be required to see it. It is fantastic, moving, provocative... I wanted more! Others may naively claim that this film lets Fujimori off the hook, but on the contrary, Fujimori hangs himself in the film on several occasions. He doesn't come across as charming or patriotic or even particularly likable; he made a Faustian bargain with spy chief Montesinos, it appears, to stay in power, and it was that "deal with the devil" that ultimately brought down his administration.

This is an atypical American film in that it doesn't condescend to tell the viewers how they should feel, but instead gives plenty of data for them to make up their own minds. In other words, it is objective, which is unfortunately a rare thing in political cinema these days. It is a very complicated story, and the filmmaker did a wonderful job in sifting through the mountains of material to make a lyrical, cohesive, moving film.

A friend teaching at Harvard saw it at a festival in Boston (where it apparently won Grand Jury Prize), and was amazed that a non-Peruvian could even have made it.

Fall of Fujimori is the real deal. See it as soon as you can.

This film was riveting and informative. It announces the arrival of a very talented director, Ellen Perry. She practices the fine art of "access" journalism with the assurance of a master, and she has told a very important story in a very disturbing and exciting way.

The film combines so many levels of accomplishment that the effect is dizzying. Not only did she obviously get the scoop of a long personal interview with the exiled leader who has refused to talk to anyone else, but she gets him to answer and the discuss the hard "questions" of his tenure; his response to terrorism, the suspension of democratic institutions and principles, the use of criminal and paralegal entities to support the State. And she weaves these revelations into a very slickly produced, explosive package. She got the scoop; she did the research; she masters the story, and the medium.

Fujimori is a high practitioner of postmodern politics, as the movie reveals through interleaved interviews and gobsmacking historical videography by some of the most talented and brave of videographers. Just that video, edited to tell a long story concisely, would be the best meditation on postmodern politics I have seen. When these scenes are combined with Fujimori talking or trying to talk about his tenure, the effect is at turns disturbing, enlightening, touching, and telling. From the shots of the dark night of the auto-coup to Fujimori riding his bicycle through Lima on a post Martial Law landslide election victory tour through streets full of the people, to Montesinos et al.; what struck this viewer was how close, and how unexotic, how contemporary Peru really is.

The movie focuses, wisely on telling Fujimori's story and on letting the gaps in his answers and in the story speak for themselves. All the information in this movie is officially accurate, by the way, but the film in no way attempts to impart a mountain of information, nor should it. It succeeds as a film precisely as it is spectacular, and in the way that it reveals gaps in the spectacle. The placid face of Fujimori or his daughter constantly smiling are juxtaposed against terrible acts and terrible decisions. You are left pondering both the legacy and the power and effectiveness of Fujimori. Populist or demagogue; selfless statesmen or wily tyrant? At one point in the film, Fujimori meta-comments on his spectacular use of a caged Guzman in stripes, in another he meta-comments on his "hostage crisis" and its brutal and successful resolution as a video plays next to him. The film introduces little gaps and meta-commentary to uncanny effect; the no-nonsense objective demeanor of the technocratic manager's manager comes off as sheer unreality (Fujimori is better than the best of actors). How does he do it? To acknowledge his effectiveness is not to promote him.

This is history as it is happening now. Fujimori emerges as the paradigmatic politician of our day; his instinctive populism is as genuine as the terrors behind the placid facade are real. He is a model for what George Bush wishes he could be; he is both a more skilled and more genuine leader and he had greater power to institute authoritarian policy; exercise authority he did, and most frightening of all, the people loved him for it. None of that is justification for authoritarianism, and that is the subtle point of a movie that is cautionary. Patriotism is no justification for tyranny; patriotism is a love for one's country and no justification for criminal acts. Charisma is no justification for authoritarianism either; it is a skill, a talent, and a fascination. Beware the skilled populist.

Access journalism must balance a commitment to tell the story from the perspective of the sources with an equal commitment to objective history. Perry does an excellent job. Draw your own conclusions.