Crude

Crude instantly caters to legal scholars and environmental activists. This carefully constructed documentary examines the consequences of manipulation of third world countries by multi-national corporations. Specifically it concerns a nearly 20-year lawsuit over toxic swamps caused by oil company malfeasance. Filmmaker Joe Berlinger has a track record of excellence (Paradise Lost, Brother's Keeper) and it serves him well as he delineates the issues on trial.
Although Joe Berlinger is a contemporary with someone like Michael Moore, Berlinger is a household name only to purists of documentary films. Blair Witch 2 aside Berlinger's output always makes you think no matter how trivial (Metallica: Some Kind of Monster) or important to social justice (Paradise Lost). Crude tracks a series of Ecuadoran Amazon oil junkyards over the period of a generation. Companies change ownership, political leaders lean one way then another, and of course lawyers get involved.
Does a corporation have a responsibility to the inhabitants of the area that they exploit? It would seem an open and shut issue except so many beautiful people giving conflicting views confuse those late to the party. Crude attempts to put the whole affair into perspective with an eye towards the legal maneuvering that eventually decides the outcome. We're talking chemical waste in the billions of tons, an amount so inconceivable its, well, inconceivable whether you live in a thatched hut or an air-conditioned condo. Some of the courtroom locations occur in Houston. Crude open Friday at the Angelika downtown.