tafilint2003
This movie clearly shows how UN, USAID, IFOR, IPTF, Democra and many other international organizations were involved in human trafficking of underage girls in Bosnia, their rape, prostitution, torture and murders.Movie is pretty good and very emotional. It's weird that a movie like this didn't receive any awards. Horrible movies with crappy stories win a lot of awards, and this one well made movie, showing a true story, with good production has won zero awards. One of the actresses received a few awards, but not the movie.And IMDb rating of 7.2 is an insult for this movie. Much worse movies have higher rating than this one.I guess telling the truth is still a crime. Even awarding a movie that tells the truth seems to be a crime.
craig-hopton
This is compelling viewing and it's heartrending.It's set in post-war Bosnia and it's a true story about a policewoman from America who is posted there and tries to do what she can to blow the whistle on sex trafficking and slavery.What makes it really heartrending is that she is stopped at every turn by people in authority, including her fellow Americans. She never quite succeeds in rescuing the girls she grows attached to, but she comes agonisingly close.Rachel Weisz plays the policewoman and puts in a good performance. But the real stars of the show were Roxana Condurache and Paula Schramm who played the Ukrainian girls trafficked for sex.Don't expect to have your heart warmed by this film but do expect to find it gripping and to be reminded of the suffering that war torn countries endure even after the war is over.
nick king
The Whistleblower starts with a depiction of how girls from eastern Europe were trafficked into the Balkans for the sex industry that grew up after the Dayton Peace Accords of 1995. Tempted by the offer of a job in the West, two girls, Raya and Luba, end up in a life of sexual slavery to men working for the very institution that was there to protect civilians – the United Nations.The early scenes with Katherine Belkovac, played by Rachel Weisz, introduce her as a police officer from Nebraska who accepts a job in Bosnia for the money and perhaps as a break from her domestic problems, employed by Democra, a corporation contracted by the UN to provide monitors for the Bosnian police. An issue in the early scenes is the way characters appear and disappear from the story. Benedict Cumberbatch appears fleetingly, on screen for less than five minutes in the whole film. He is vaguely described as a commander, presumably working for Democra but this is not made clear and it is a weakness in the film that characters are introduced but not identified sufficiently for the audience to get a handle on them. Belkovac soon gains the attention of Madeline Rees, High Commissioner of Human Rights, warmly and effortlessly played by Vanessa Redgrave, who offers Belkovac the job of Head of Gender Affairs. At this point the film feels like it is ready to begin and the reintroduction of one of the girls from the opening scene, Raya, starts Belkovac on her journey into the underworld.Raya's been badly beaten up, there were were no jobs in Germany for the girls, their trail west stopped at a whorehouse in Bosnia. Belkovac goes to investigate the bar where Raya worked. In a simple powerful scene she walks through the empty club and finds wads of American currency, girls' passports, polaroids of sexual abuse and in the back-room filthy mattresses, syringes and a large cage complete with manacles and leg-irons. There is no music, no other characters or dialogue are necessary. The camera follows Belkovac and the audience follows the camera. The Whistleblower is at its best in scenes like this. The visual style of the rest of the film is also established in the bar scene. Darkness and shadow dominate from now on. As Belkovac becomes enlightened the story gets darker. At a shelter Belkovac first hears the term human trafficking and is made aware that the trafficking started after the war ended and the UN had arrived yet Belkovac still doesn't quite seem to get it; there is a tendency in the film for other characters to have to spell things out for her, maybe this gets information across to the audience but it does leave one wondering was she this naïve in real life?The second half of the film is dominated by the futility of her work and the suffering of the girls she is trying to save. The forces that really control Bosnia reveal themselves in the increasing violence done to the girls and the backlash against Belkovac inside Democra. In the shortest and best written scene she is interviewed by a Democra official, John Blakely, a subtle, hostile performance by William Hope. Belkovac leaves the meeting realising she is alone. The use of camera focus to emphasise her loneliness and almost paranoid state of mind is very effective.As time runs out for Belkovac she has one chance to still make a difference. She learns that Raya is being held at a bar nearby and, in the emotional climax of the film, she goes there to persuade Raya and the other girls to take a chance and leave with her. It's a powerful scene, Rachel Weisz is brilliant as her appeals fail and her impotence is finally revealed. While Raya sinks back into the shadows of the bar Belkovac staggers outside. Neither of them have anywhere left to go. The last section of the film is quiet. Belkovac has realised that her police work has failed and that she must become the whistleblower. She gets away with the evidence, makes it to London and tells her story. Rachel Weisz will get all the plaudits for her performance. She plays the honest cop in dishonest times up against odds she only slowly begins to comprehend. Her increasing horror at what she discovers is matched by her determination and commitment. Weisz plays the role with energy and strength but her performance never gets in the way of the story. The other actors are really not on screen long enough. Vanessa Redgrave is especially underused. Her acting is real quality, delivered through her voice and eyes, her charisma adds another level to the film. Her scenes with Rachel Weisz are a fascinating contrast of styles, with Weisz a more physical actor, more expressive and although some of the dialogue is not the strongest Vanessa Redgrave never sounds like she is reading from a script at all. Roxana Condurache is especially good as Raya, she seems to physically change as she suffers and by the end she is in a permanent cringe, unwilling even to raise her head, the look on her face says she knows she's trapped.A powerful story and a strong cast drive The Whistleblower and Larysa Kondracki directs her first feature film with style and imagination. The use of blur, focus and shadow is never overdone and effectively convey the isolation of the characters. She keeps a good balance between this subjectivism and the stark reality of the violence that underlies everything. However, the script is uneven, and some of the devices used to move the plot forward are clichéd yet the film does not let us forget that Raya is dead, the girls are still in slavery, no-one from the UN was ever prosecuted. The Whistleblower ends on a downbeat but truthful note.
allegro16
At first I thought that this is just another thriller film, but as the film progresses, I soon come to realize that this film is different. Watching this film sends chills down my spine. Some of the scenes are really hard to watch. The entire film sends a message of anger deep down in my heart and how I wish those people who are involved in the disgusting and sickening business of sex trafficking be severely punished.I sincerely hope that this film will send a strong message to authorities around the world to step up to fight human trafficking.Overall, an eye opening film with Rachel Weisz delivering a solid performance.
