Film night with Vergès

Went into the city with a friend for film night to see Terror's Advocate. We hadn't been all winter and we both like independent film a lot. The film last night dove tailed into a Noam Chomsky book I was given as a gift recently called What We Say Goes very well. It was a story of Jacques Vergès. The film mostly consisted of interviews with him and those that knew him. It was an outstanding look at a history I had little acquaintance with. I did not even know the name Vergès and my mind was bent into a pretzel as the larger implications of his role internationally were explored. He was the lawyer for Pol Pot and his ilk. Vergès was integral in the massive bombing spree in France in 1986, or so it seems.

It was a fascinating film that I had fairly low expectation of when heading in to see it. It was an unconventional documentary in the way John McPhee's writing is unconventional. The director went to some lengths to allow the viewers to draw their own conclusions. The director had great discipline in ensuring the story line had avenues available to create challenge for my bias against almost all of his clients. There was plenty to chew on in this one. My hat is off to the film maker for digging deeply into a highly distasteful area of investigation, namely the defense of some of the most vicious rebels of our time. A very stimulating window into the murky world of international terrorism.