Search - They Killed Sister Dorothy on DVD

Strong and Impressive

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 10/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""They Killed Sister Dorothy"

Strong and Impresive

Amos Lassen

"They Killed Sister Dorothy" is a documentary about the murder of a 73 year old Catholic nun, Sister Dorothy Stang, in February 2005 in the Brazilian rain forest. For 30 years she had been fighting with environmentalists and the poor against exploitation by powerful landowners and loggers. This is a very powerful film and a testament to Sister Dorothy who worked so hard to prevent the destruction of Brazilian rain forests. She was the true spirit of human decency and her death made her a martyr. She was killed by wealthy ranchers who opposed what she was doing and the concentration of the film is on the efforts to bring her murderers to justice and shows how difficult this is in a corrupt political system where money rules and justice can be bought at a price. We see the many conflicts that exist in Third World countries.
I felt moral outrage as I watched and in a story that seems like fiction--we just have a hard time believing that something like this could happen in our world We see his a trigger man and two accomplices were arrested and charged with murder but many felt and still feel that higher-ups are directly responsible for the murder. The director, Daniel Junge, gives us multiple points of view and the film is extremely serious with several stranger-than-fiction elements. We see a courtroom climax that brings a verdict that will have a tremendous effect on the power that renegade ranchers have and this is must-see film for anyone who is interested in preserving the environment. We also get to see clips of Sister Dorothy speaking to the peasants and calling for change and we see her as a woman with a big heart and deep, deep compassion. She may no longer be here but her memory remains and her cause has been taken up by those who are committed to saving the rain forest.
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