The Agronomist

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000500dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Reel Movie Critic.com</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reel Movie Critic.com"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1919.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="16 Years of Alcohol"><U>16 Years of Alcohol</U></A>   |   <B>The Agronomist</B>   |   <A HREF="id1935.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Alien"><U>Alien</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1961.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Big Fish"><U>Big Fish</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1940.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bubba Ho Tep"><U>Bubba Ho Tep</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1936.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Casa de Los Babys"><U>Casa de Los Babys</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1945.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chicago International Film Festival Prev"><U>Chicago International Film Festival Preview 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1933.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cheaper by the Dozen"><U>Cheaper by the Dozen</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1926.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Chicago International Film Festival Revi"><U>Chicago International Film Festival Reviews 2003</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1946.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Forest"><U>Forest</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1911.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Human Stain"><U>Human Stain</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1950.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Intorelable Cruelty"><U>Intorelable Cruelty</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1938.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jesus, You Know"><U>Jesus, You Know</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1913.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kill Bill"><U>Kill Bill</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1947.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kops"><U>Kops</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1939.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My Architect: A Sons Journey"><U>My Architect: A Son's Journey</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1908.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mysterious X"><U>The Mysterious X</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1910.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Runaway Jury"><U>Runaway Jury</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1934.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stuck on You"><U>Stuck on You</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1914.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sylvia"><U>Sylvia</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1959.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Three"><U>Three</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1915.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Underworld"><U>Underworld</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id1948.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Waking Life"><U>Waking Life</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="041d2c00dvldtc.png"> <div> <B>Home Page for</B></div> <div> <B>      </B><A HREF="http://newbookdiscounts.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://newbookdiscounts.com/"><U><B>Books</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>           </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id364.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Travel</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>                </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/"><U><B>Movies</B></U></A></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>                   </B><A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelforless/id361.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/travelfor"><U><B>Great Web Sites</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>Similar Genres</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/rmc/Genres/documentaries.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.reelmoviecritic.com/rmc/Genre"><U><B>Documentary</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> The Agronomist</div> <div> For collectible movie items, enter the movie, actor, director, etc. in the box below</div> <div>  <HTML> <BODY> <script language="JavaScript1.1"> var eBayMP_partner = "711-1751-4022-33"; // Don't change any javascript below this line. var eBayRedirectURL = "http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/" + eBayMP_partner + "?loc="; function redirectEnter(form,url){ var eBayURL = url; for (var i=0;i<form.elements.length;i++){ var e = form.elements[i]; if ((e.type != "image") && (e.type != "button") && (e.type != "submit")){ if(i==0){ eBayURL += "?" + e.name + "=" + e.value; } else{ eBayURL += "&" + e.name + "=" + e.value; } } } var temp = eBayRedirectURL + escape(eBayURL); document.location = temp; } </script> <table width="468" border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bordercolor="#3A3AF3" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td> <img src="http://img-snv.mediaplex.com/ads/711/1751/ebay_logo_468x60border_searchpull.gif" width="165" height="58" align="left" hspace="20"> <table border=0 cellpadding=1 cellspacing=0> <FORM action="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=37920209&siteid=37746411&bfpage=350x50_search_border" onSubmit="redirectEnter(this,'http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=37920209&siteid=37746411&bfpage=350x50_search_border'); return false;" METHOD="GET""> <input type=hidden name="MfcISAPICommand" value="GetResult"> <input type="hidden" name="ht" value="1"> <input type=hidden name="SortProperty" value="MetaEndSort"> <tr valign="bottom"> <td colspan=2> <input name="query" type="text" size=15 maxlength=100 value="">   (Keyword)</td> </tr> <tr> <td> <select name="category0" size="1"> <option selected>Select a Category</option> <option value="11450">Accessories</option> <option value="20081">Antiques</option> <option value="550">Art</option> <option value="2984">Baby</option> <option value="267">Books</option> <option value="12576">Business & Industrial</option> <option value="625">Cameras & Photo</option> <option value="6000">Cars, Trucks, Parts</option> <option value="11450">Clothing</option> <option value="11116">Coins</option> <option value="1">Collectibles</option> <option value="160">Computers</option> <option value="293">Consumer Electronics</option> <option value="237">Dolls & Bears</option> <option value="11232">DVDs & Movies</option> <option value="220">Hobbies & Crafts</option> <option value="11700">Home & Garden</option> <option value="281">Jewelry & Gems</option> <option value="6000">Motorcycles</option> <option value="11233">Music</option> <option value="11233">Musical Instruments</option> <option value="160">Networking & IT</option> <option value="293">PDA's</option> <option value="870">Pottery & Glass</option> <option value="10542">Real Estate</option> <option value="382">Sporting Goods</option> <option value="202">Sporting Memorabilia</option> <option value="260">Stamps</option> <option value="11730">Tickets</option> <option value="631">Tools</option> <option value="220">Toys</option> <option value="11730">Travel</option> <option value="293">TV</option> <option value="293">Video Games</option> <option value="14324">Watches</option> <option value="99">Miscellaneous</option> </select> </td> <td align=left> <input type="hidden" name="ebaytag1" value="ebayreg"> <input type="submit" value="Search" name="submit"> </td> </tr> </form> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <img src="http://adfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/tr/711-1751-4022-36"> <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=37920209&siteid=37746411&bfpage=468x60_pull_down_bor" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE > <BODY> <HTML/>  </div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="592" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="588"><div> The Agronomist</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="588"><div> Reviewed by Lee Shoquist</div> <div> for Reel Movie Critic </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div>  Directed by Jonathan Demme</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="588"><div> HH<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" >½ </FONT></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B> </B>"The Agronomist," Jonathan Demme's heartfelt documentary about his good friend, the late Haitian freedom fighter Jean Dominique, is a mixed bag of a film. It's both educational and sometimes moving though not as deep or complex as it might have been had Demme not been so connected to the subject at hand.  </div> <bR> <div> Dominique, assassinated in 1990, is at the center of the film about his life as Haiti's freedom-fighting radio journalist, who led a crusade for Haitian human rights reform and was the founder of Radio Haiti International.  The film employs interviews and documentary footage to tell Dominique's story, and it's a spellbinding one.  </div> <bR> <div> What emerges is the picture of a man who early in life was an agronomist before he became a national icon and hero for exposing government corruption and impropriety, and used his broadcast platform to endlessly take on all manner of governmental crime, exploitation and demoralization of Haitian citizens. In the end the price was his life, and the film movingly talks to his long-time wife and lover, Michele Montes, who recounts with uncanny detail and genuine emotion the events of their turbulent life.  </div> <div>  </div> <div> The interviews with Dominique reveal him to be a lucid, animated, dynamic and passionate man, and Demme does a superb job of capturing the oppression, time and place of his subject. The film, full of exhaustingly researched archival footage and revealing interviews with those who knew Dominique, illuminates Haiti's troubled political climate possibly better than it does Jean Dominique himself.  To Demme, Dominique is a hero; an icon; a symbol.  I'm not sure he's actually depicted as a dimensional man here as well.  </div> <bR> <div> The subject itself seems inherently fascinating, but the film feels a bit removed and sometimes simplistic in its approach to dealing with complex politics and people.  It essentially comes off as a well-intentioned piece of praise with some powerful messages - you cannot kill the truth or justice - at the center of a fairly standard, talking head account.  </div> <bR> <div> As with Demme's last film, the tepid Hollywood bust "The Truth<B> </B>About Charlie," "The Agronomist" won't go down as one of Demme's best. And although it may be a "small" film by definition, it's an important document nonetheless.  "The Agronomist" remains but a decent tribute to a great man.  </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> Lee Shoquist © 2003</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@reelmoviecritic.com"><U><U>lee@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>