The Whistleblower

 

The Whistleblower 2010

• Director:  Larysa Kondraki
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Rachel Weisz, Vanessa Redgrave, David Strathairn, Nikolaj Lie Kass, with small roles by Benedict Cumberbatch and Liam Cunningham
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Rachel Weisz – The Favourite, The Deep Blue Sea, The Fountain, The Constant Gardener, Constantine, About a Boy, Sunshine
• Vanessa Redgrave – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, The Thirteenth Tale, The Butler, A Song for Marion, Atonement, The Pledge, Girl Interrupted, Cradle Will Rock, Lulu on the Bridge, Mrs Dalloway, Wilde, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, Down Came a Blackbird, Howards End, The Ballad of Sad Café, Prick Up Your Ears, Playing for Time, The Devils, Oh What a Lovely War, Isadora, Camelot, Blow-Up
• David Strathairn – Nomadland, UFO, American Pastoral, Hotel Marigold, The Tempest, Good Night and Good Luck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A League of Their Own, Silkwood
• Why? Possibly interesting.
• Seen: 9 January 2022      

       Nebraska cop (real person) Kathryn Bolcovac (Weisz) accepts a UN peace-keeping mission in post-war Bosnia. She soon uncovers a trafficking ring/organised crime organisation kidnapping young girls from Eastern Europe and forcing them into prostitution in Bosnia. The deeper Bolcovac investigates, the more horror she uncovers. Men from the girls’ own families right up to the head of the UN unit in Bosnia are involved through the management of a security company on contract with the US State Department.

       When she takes it up with her employers, she’s fired and those responsible launch a huge cover-up.

       True story. You probably remember hearing about it in the media. I do.

       The patriarchy and profit murder women. The film is fictionalised but the reality is out there. Why is everyone not enraged? 

5* of 5.