Product Description

Voice over by jamaica kincaid Studio: New Yorker Films Video Release Date: 06/24/2003 Run time: 86 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Stephanie Black

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20305 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-06-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 80 minutes

Amazon.com
Set to a beguiling reggae beat, Life and Debt takes as its subject Jamaica's economic decline in the 20th century. The story has reverberations in the plight of other third-world nations blindsided by globalization, like Ghana and Haiti. After England granted Jamaica independence in 1962, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in with a series of loans. These loans came with strings attached--the kind that would eventually plunge the country $7 billion into debt, stranded without the resources to dig themselves out. Although IMF officials get the chance to have their say, it's clear where filmmaker Stephanie Black's sympathies lie--with the country's underemployed farmers and sweatshop workers. Jamaica Kinkaid (A Small Place) penned the narration, while the soundtrack features some of the "imports" with which this island nation remains mostly closely associated: Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Mutabaruka, who performs the title track. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

From The New Yorker
This documentary, directed by Stephanie Black, concerns the effects of globalization and multinational corporations on the island of Jamaica. What could have been a dry-as-dirt lecture on the evils of banking, the closings of farms, and unfair import practices gets shaped by the filmmaker into a comprehensive and involving film about the pillaging of a beautiful island and its people. The poetic, incisive narration is by Jamaica Kincaid. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

The flip side of what tourists see
Narrated by Jamaica Kincaid based on her non-fiction book, "A Small Place," her familiar honey-toned voice captures the cadence of the islands. "If you come to Jamaica as a tourist, this is what you will see..." The camera then focuses on well-fed and happy tourists. They eat sumptuous meals. ("You'd be surprised to find out that every bite of food you eat comes off a plane from Miami.") They enjoy the view from their rooms ("You probably don't know that the sewage from the hotel is going straight into the ocean")

Basically though, this film is about economics and the changes that have occurred in the years since the British left in the 1960s and Jamaica had to borrow money from international lending institutions. Former Prime Minister Michael Manley describes how the interest is so high that it keeps the economy constantly in a debt that keeps growing. And Jamaican money is so devalued that it is cheaper to buy imports rather than produce them itself.

Just a few years ago, farmers got good prices from raising chickens and there was large plant to process them, giving people jobs. The factories are closed now and the farmers can't sell their chickens because of cheaper imports. Also, there is a special free trade zone where garments are put together for such companies such as Hanes. Everything is delivered to the factory pre-cut and ready to sew and the workers toil long hours for no more than $30 per week. During the course of the filming, even that factory closed to reopen in another third-world country where the labor might be even cheaper.

All this is contrasted with constant cuts to the tourists who are frolicking at the hotels and enjoying themselves in such silly games as beer drinking contests.

The film is done well, and the cinematography and direction are excellent. I was able to follow the points being made about the economic issues and, although I know I don't have enough background in the subject to really understand it completely, there was no doubt about how the economy is collapsing. Even their banana exports are being threatened. This film is definitely worth seeing.

Required viewing for all first world citizens
This is an extremely poignant view of how our thirst for luxury puts the majority of the world at our whim, making them our invisible slaves. The people who sew our shirts, pick our bananas, and make our shoes are caught in a vicious cycle that keeps them bent to our oppression. It is something we never see -- and because of that, we never care. In this film we are forced to look at things we've never been told about and to understand the reasons and events behind our global poverty crisis. This is a fantastic film for youth groups and it sparks great discussion. Every highschooler should be required to view this in their economics class. Every adult should be required to view this before they decide to take an all-inclusive vacation. This IS the real Cancun -- ahem, Jamaica. We need to learn that our decisions as consumers and as a country affect the lives of millions of people, and that we, as consumers, could make those lives better by choosing to live differently. This film can do that, and it is absolutely required viewing for all first world citizens.

FIVE STARS, FIFTY STARS--ABSOLUTELY MUST BUY.
If you care about the effects of US-dominated economic policies upon so-called developing nations ("developing" a euphemism for economically terrorized, left-to-bleed-to-death, etc.)... if it matters to you what is being done to them in our name (for the benefit of citizens of US & the rich nations) you MUST HAVE THIS. Don't even think about it. Don't even read any other reviews... let the raw power of the film hit you straight up. Mere words don't get it. See the faces of the oppressed. Hear their stories. Then get involved. Send copies to everybody, legislators, business leaders, libaries. Get creative. Get on the internet (global exchange, democracy now, etc). Otherwise the terror will continue... in our name.