GLOBAL HAYWIRE

This film has the best of intentions, but its impact falls very short of the lofty goals set up by its starting premise. Written and directed by well-known Australian cartoonist Bruce Petty, it combines his quirky illustrations with live action footage and satirical commentary. The end result is a quasi-documentary that is momentarily interesting at best. The narrative, if you could call it that, details the history of the East/West divide, using a confusing metaphorical character to explain why the world is in its current state of perpetual fear and violence. Traversing a wide breadth of cultural, racial and socio-economic issues, Global Haywire should be more engaging than it is. The film tries to say too much, and as a result, ends up just skimming the surface of complex problems.

(Talia Linz)