Search - Power Trip on DVD

Well balanced film on the need for electricity and who pays

Steven I. Ramm | Phila, PA USA | 09/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, I'm a "documentary junkie", especially when the director edits the film so that it forms a storyline and doesn't use the film for "propaganda" purposes. When that happens, I don't need to know the subject in advance to seek it out and watch it.

"Power Trip" meets those conditions on all levels. It's recent enough to be current (it takes place between 1998 and 2003). And filmmaker Paul Delvin follows the timeline from when the American Owned energy AES bought the government power company in Soviet state of Georgia until ...... well, I can't tell you or it would spoil the narrative. Like a good filmmaker, Devlin seemed to have his camera at the right place and at the right time and he is able to capture some incidents that were not expected at the time he started his film. Again, it's those surprises that make this film interesting.

"Even handed" and "Well Balanced" are two phrases that come to my mind immediately in describing this film. There are no "good guys" and "bad guys" here. Well, yes there are. The politicians. (the corrupt ones anyway, who are the "bad guys".). But in the fight between the residents of Georgia who find themselves without power (no lights, no TV!) and the employees and President of AES (who are working for a company that can't collect payments for the power that THEY have to purchase), Devlin doesn't point any fingers or take sides.

And the personalities of the employees of AES who are working in foreign counties is fascinating too. You'll remember AAES Manager Piers Lewis long after you've watched this film.

The supplemental material is interesting as well, though not essential to the enjoyment of the film. I'm not reviewing this from a political point of view; just as an example of excellent documentary filmmaking.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"


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Travel to an Unknown Land

Gerard D. Launay | Berkeley, California | 03/26/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Againt a background of lovely, ethnic folk music (of the region), this is the story of the electrification of the former Soviet Union of Georgia, a land where 90% of the people cannot or will not pay for the power. The events that unfold rival any theatre of the absurd."

Power Trip

John Farr | 07/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Devlin's gripping film unblinkingly exposes a Western audience to the fundamental upheavals accompanying major transformations in form of government. Shots of major blocks of the city going dark (as A.E.S cracks down on non-paying customers), and furious, uncomprehending people protesting the need to pay for electricity, bring into close proximity a far-away problem too few comfortable Americans even know about. An unnerving and cautionary tale, since energy could one day be a luxury for us all."