Educational Media Reviews Online

Directed in 2004 by Australian documentarian David Bradbury and produced by Argentine filmmaker Carlos Alperin, Raúl the Terrible, travels with Raúl Castells, the fractious leader of the Movimiento Independiente de Jubilados y Desocupados (MIJD – Independent Movement of the Retired and Unemployed), one of many protest groups that surged in Argentina in response to the devastating 2001 economic crisis. The groups are known collectively as piqueteros (pickets) with Castells group situated among the “duros” (hardliners). Indeed, his style is tough, speed drilling to the brutal realities of Argentine poverty.

If he is Argentina’s Robin Hood, he is a very grumpy, type-A Robin Hood. As they march through the streets of Buenos Aires, he and his followers curse like drill sergeants, naming and damning the politicians they blame for the nation’s plight. Bradbury and Alperin capture the spark, arrogance and the dedicated emotional core of Castells as he shuts down toll roads, leads a take-over of a casino demanding money for his group, and then stages a near fatal hunger strike when jailed for extortion. Filmed over four months, Raúl the Terrible documents Castells in a particular Argentine political moment, in a certain phase of his career as a political leader, using a particular tactic. When the producer asks Castells why he is so aggressive, el terrible tries to explain that he is simply making a strategic calculation and that he is not really an aggressive person. He is just taking his best shot to give the poor some relief in a crisis. If Raúl the Terrible has a flaw it is that it has reported only the opening phase in a protracted and rapidly shifting political process and only one act in an extensive political career. The film documents with such intensity and detail that we come to think we know the man and the movement entirely. Not so.

Since 2004 the movement has faltered and Castells renounced the use of disruptive tactics telling Argentina’s daily La Nación, "It no longer makes sense for 50 people to block a road... You cannot continue for decades with a method of protest rejected by 99% of the country." In January 2007 he denounced disruptive citizen protests against the construction of a paper plant across the Uruguayan border and organized street art exhibits and multicultural fashion shows that combine haut couture with indigenous clothing and models. Rather than robbing the rich to feed the poor, he now forces the rich to acknowledge the cultural achievements of the poor.

Be that as it may, Raúl the Terrible, provides a faithful and well shot presentation of the efforts of poor people to succeed on their own terms at one of Argentina’s lowest moments and of a controversial charismatic leader rushing to gain ground for them. Much of the film is in Spanish subtitled in English.

Awards:

• Special Mention, Reportage and Current Affairs, Biarritz International Festival of Audiovisual Programming, 2006
• Best Direction in a documentary, AFI award, Australian Film Institute, 2006