Admittedly, telling you that something is guaranteed to make you angry is probably not the best way to go about recommending it. Still, it's probably the best way to explain the power of HBO's "Hunted: The War Against Gays in Russia." The documentary reveals the shocking extent of the persecution against the LGBT community in Russia. During the Sochi Olympics, their so-called "anti-propaganda law" got a some attention -- a law prohibiting any positive depiction of gays in any venue where someone under 18 years of age could be exposed to it. But that's only the beginning.
In Hunted, a film crew follows a vigilante group that cons gay men into what they believe will be private encounters. Instead, the groups then accost and humiliate their victims -- and would clearly torture or beat them, were the documentary crew not there to forestall worse abuse. Yet these vigilantes go much farther than you might think, and show no hesitation in doing so. This is because their activities are essentially sanctioned by Russian police, who do nothing to prosecute such cases -- they believe just as much as the attackers in the righteousness of the "cause."
The documentary runs less than an hour, but the picture it paints is horrifyingly clear. Any condemnation that Russian authorities have received to date is hardly enough, exposing only the tip of a dangerous and large iceberg. Indeed, the scope of the problem is such that the film leaves its audience feeling rather helpless. What could you possibly do, where could you possibly begin, in helping to bring about change? Your heart goes out to the few Russians in the film who -- against all odds -- are trying to do just that.
It's hard to "grade" Hunted, really. If the job of a documentary is to inform and educate, then this would get top marks. But if it's meant to be a call to activism, it's frankly too bleak to be inspirational. Yet either way, I do think it deserves to be seen. If you have HBO (or a friend's HBO Go login), take the hour to watch it.
No comments:
Post a Comment