Blowing Up Paradise

A cautionary tale that feels more than a little propagandistic, Blowing Up Paradise looks at the issue of nuclear testing on the idyllic Moruroa Atoll in French Indonesia. Beginning in 1966, the French government conducted numerous A-bomb tests in the region over a period of 30 years—in apparent violations of the international test-ban treaty—resulting in widespread radiation contamination and a higher-than-average cancer rate among the area's human inhabitants. France's denial of responsibility and refusal to compensate Moruroa residents for their suffering is the primary subject of interviews with former and current government officials, scientists, and environmental activists here. In addition, the documentary criticizes France's efforts to counter attacks from such organizations as Greenpeace (considerable footage is devoted to a 1985 incident in which the French Secret Service bombed a Greenpeace ship, killing one member). Unfortunately, while this subject certainly warrants investigation, filmmaker Ben Lewis' approach is not terribly subtle—ultimately weakening what might have been a powerful documentary by turning it into crude agitprop. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (E. Hulse)