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Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land
Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. Empire
    Reviewed by: Sam Toy
    100
    Captivating and essential viewing.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    100
    Filmmaking at its most fearless, with Ostergaard creating a suspenseful, harrowing account of his original key subject, known only as "Joshua."
  3. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    90
    There was no happy ending, but if Burma VJ's account of the efficacy of dictatorship threatens to crush you, the sight of a sturdy young back disappearing into the mountains, returning from a Thailand hideout for another round of bearing witness, should make your heart burst.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    90
    A rich, thought-provoking film.
  5. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    89
    It's the truth, unshackled and captured against all odds, and it's one of the most powerful documentary films I have ever seen, period.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    88
    Burma VJ' retorts that eyes and ears are everywhere in our ever-tightening global communications mesh. Voices, too, and they get heard. The generals and the ayatollahs have every right to be scared.
  7. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Eagan
    80
    In preparing Burma VJ, Ostergaard decided to reconstruct some scenes with scripted dialogue -- in part to explain events, but also to protect the participants. This material, shot in darkened offices and apartments, feels both accurate and necessary.
  8. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    80
    Anyone who doubts that a single individual can make a political impact should see Anders Řstergaard's gripping documentary.
  9. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    Thanks to the new guerrilla narrative, the world has a constant flow of images to file in its collective consciousness. And that camera-testable accountability slowly becomes a global civic right that fulfills the noblest purpose of journalism -- to bring truth to power.
  10. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    The most compelling footage was taken during the uprising of August and September 2007, which put a bad scare into the government because a large number of Buddhist monks played a prominent role.
  11. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Michael Posner
    75
    It's a very sad film to watch.
  12. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leslie Felperin
    70
    Has some style as well as compelling content.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    50
    The news footage, so powerful on its own, needs no enhancement. The dramatized scenes only slow the film's momentum.
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User Reviews

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User Score
9.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. gonnawatchit
    10
    Sometimes we are simply called to be witnesses. Like when a friend is going through a hard time. Often there is nothing you can do to help. There is no advice you can give, no way you can get involved, nothing you can offer except a listening ear. So you listen, and you sympathize, and you hurt for her. And it helps, somehow, even though there’s nothing you can do to help. Just listening helps. “Burma VJ” is a documentary, of sorts, about the repressive government in Burma, and the 2007 uprising, led by students and monks, that attempted, and failed, to overthrow the military junta that rules the country. The regimen is very strict about media and the press, and the revolutionaries who shot the footage that makes up the majority of “Burma VJ” are most likely in jail now for the rest of their lives. The footage was smuggled out of the country, and then re-broadcast into Burma via satellite so that its citizens would know what was happening in their country. And so that we, outside of Burma, could stand as witness to the atrocities that have taken place there. On artistic grounds, it isn’t all that good. The footage is grainy and jumpy, and the directors have had to fill in gaps with reenactments to make things flow together. And it is a story of defeat, not triumph. The Burmese government violently put down the uprising, the people got afraid again and Burma continues under the fist of the military to this day. This is not a happy, heartwarming story. For decades, we have feared that repressive governments would use cameras and satellites to spy on and control their citizens; it is remarkable that just the opposite is taking place: citizens use the new technology to report on their governments, and to keep them accountable. But sometimes we are simply called to be witnesses. And this is one of those times. There probably isn’t anything you or I can do to help the situation in Burma. As I understand it, there’s not much even our government, can do to help the situation. But we can listen; we can watch. We can empathize and hurt for them. It is clear, through the testimony of one of the video journalists, that this is what they hope for: that, we, simply, would know what they are going through. Burma is their country, and political revolution is their war to fight. But if it helps, if it gives them strength and courage to know that you and I, halfway around the world, are rooting for them, praying for them, and hoping for them, then that is what we must do. Don’t watch “Burma VJ” because it is gripping or powerful. Watch it because you are called to be a witness.… Full Review »
  2. oerdi
    10
    A rare and moving view of the peaceful protests in Burma and the brutal crackdown that followed. A must see for anyone interested in politics or human rights.… Full Review »
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