Power Trip (2003)

Pretty Good

just watch it!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

This film looks at the challenges associated with trying to take a country with no money, corruption and an aged, collapsing infrastructure and make it function as a "proper" country. It looks at this by using the provision of electricity within Georgia by American company AES as an example. The end result is a rather mixed film that enlightens on the wider subject while never really getting a handle on it.Part of the problem is that the film sits too closely to the couple of people it knows within AES. Why it does this is perhaps understandable – the connection between director Devlin and AES employee Piers Lewis they speak English, they are amusing/interesting characters, they provided access that the other groups did not etc; but the outcome is that the film does appear to be very much on the AES side of the table and that perhaps too much of the film is being presented with a sense of "good feeling" towards AES that other groups are not rewarded. Had the film spent less time hanging out with Lewis and the specific frustrations of AES then maybe it could have done better, but at times the film feels like it easily could have been sponsored by AES. This isn't helped by the fact that the film nary has a bad word to say about AES – not even when the management brags about shutting off power to an airport while a plane was coming in to land.Despite this failing (and it is a failing) though, the film is still very interesting in the bigger picture and whenever it has scenes where AES are just one of many players in the story then the subject comes through – that is the challenge of what they are trying to do. Here is where the film should have spent more time but surprisingly things like specific acts of murder and corruption are just mentioned rather than explored or discussed. Compare this to the amount of time we get to spend with AES looking at unsafe or damaged electrical equipment and you do get the feeling that Devlin is missing the bigger picture.As a short film for a viewer taking a first look at Georgia then it is interesting enough in the sweep that the irritations in the detail can be mostly forgiven but it does seem that Devlin is pulled in his delivery. He was drawn to this story via Lewis and did set out specifically to look at the experience of AES trying to do what they do, however where he sees the bigger picture he knows he should focus on that by way of AES as a device but yet always seems hesitant to do so. Overall then this is an interesting film that could easily have been twice as long and still engage but I do not think Devlin is the man to tell it and I think the proximity to AES that initially helps him ultimately hinders the development and delivery of the film.

Nothing too funny about this one. A lot of it is rather tragic actually. It gives us a glimpse of the difficulties these former Soviet citizens are facing as their states continue to transition. Of all the transitions that must be made, electricity seems like a rather small one, but as the film shows it still has an enormous impact. I don't believe the film was corporate propaganda but it offers no criticism of how AES handled the situation. Likewise, the corruption it does depict is located in the Geogian Ministry.Beyond the whole electricity/post Soviet theme, there is some decent exposure to the Georgian people and landscape. Watch out for a few brutal images of a murdered man and an electrified man.

Greetings again from the darkness. And this time I mean darkness in the literal sense. What an excellent glimpse into the real process of transitioning a country from socialism to capitalism. Make no mistake, this process is tedious and painful for everyone involved. Some get rich, most suffer tremendously. This documentary is centered on the world of electricity in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The politics and power struggles cause nothing but frustration, confusion and darkness for the citizens. One of the citizens speaks of the feeling of oppression from living helplessly without electricity because the electric bill is more than a months pay. As a viewer we feel this oppression and frustration from the comfort of a heated theatre with plush seats. This movie reminds me of how lucky I am to live in the U.S. and how so many struggle with the basics of everyday life - things I take for granted. My only complaint is how the film glosses over the real (alleged) ties to Enron with the management of AES. No matter, the points are made and in contrast to most documentaries, Mr. Devlin does not attempt to force his views on us. He presents the picture and allows our minds to experience the frustration of not providing a solution. Tough issues that at times border on a lack of humanity. Powerful stuff.

What problems do you expect as an American "global power company" when you purchase the former national power distribution company of the Georgian capitol Tbilisi? Maybe not even half the problems AES Corp. has to deal with once they did purchase the company. Corruption, political assassinations, street rioting, major blackouts and people who were never used to pay for their electricity at all. Manager Piers Lewis must try to make this expedition a success, but does he succeed? Very amusing documentary with beautiful Georgian music.