This ambitious documentary focuses on the topics of human migration and inequality. The documentarian claims that The Universality of it All “[blurs] the boundaries between film and documentary through a fresh and nuanced perspective.” What disappointed me the most about the film is that it broke this simple promise.
It begins by telling the viewer just how interconnected everything is and, by the end, you’re not sure how that point has been made. There are many good discussion topics through the documentary and a lot of specific and intriguing information, but I was left wondering if perhaps Bronnimann could have done another year or so of research because he seems to have missed the idea.
In studying the many mentioned conflicts and tracing their historic and economic roots back half a century at the least, he lays out the issues quite clearly: Western imperial powers destabilize nations in order to take advantage of their resources and cheap labor created by desperate refugees and migrants. There are some very beautiful interviews with migrants and refugees from across the globe and a plethora of expert advice and analysis, but the documentarian eschews all of this, making many struggles out to be much more “this side vs. that side” with little understanding for the motivations of either side (even though they were literally just stated).
He seems to have more understanding for the corporate and military occupation of Nicaragua and the political dynasty which allowed and profited from this violent siege than he does for the people who would support or become communist allied rebels in opposition to American Imperialism.
In the end, he tries to make these interconnected issues of violence and inequality some sort of natural reality instead of the mechanisms of corporate empire dictated and executed by human beings with obvious motivations. His tunnel-vision focus on economic issues in the face of genuine human suffering is extremely disappointing.
The largest disappointment was the somewhat pointless use of his roommate Emad’s own story and struggles. They never really connect to anything other than him being a refugee and having to seek asylum. He was a prime example of the overlooked immigrant, someone with a story so common yet so under-told that he should have been much more of the focus in my opinion. The comparison of conflicts and outcomes across nations was interesting, but in the end, misunderstood. The use of the artistic styling fell flat as well.
“The world turned upside down/sideways” was a constant motif, but the narrator's general understanding of the situations, experiences of migrants, and the injustice of it all rarely rose to meet this theme. The rambling final thought of “that’s just the way it is” was as underwhelming as it was disrespectful to the stories of those refugees used throughout the film. The Universality of it All is not recommended. Aud: C.