Devil’s Bargain: A Journey into the Small Arms Trade

In Shelley Saywell’s Devil’s Bargain: A Journey into the Small Arms Trade, commentators compare the effects of the small arms trade in Somalia to an epidemic and a weapon of mass destruction. To back up such comparisons, the viewer is presented with some staggering statistics surrounding the global production and sale of arms. Every year, major arms producers manufacture twice the amount of bullets necessary to kill every person living on the Earth. An accumulation of such factors powers the havoc that surrounds not the people that manufacture and sell arms, but those that purchase the weapons through the black market.

The Canadian filmmaker embarks on a journey to expose how small arms move from major world producers to people who do not own much more than the guns they purchase. Saywell captures astounding footage and interviews with people deeply embedded in what is called the “grey zone,” an area through which arms move from the legal to the illegal zone. Through the documentary, the audience is exposed to how arms are trafficked in between conflict zones, are reused in different wars, and how international law is easily put aside. Not only is the film an exposition of the small arms trade, it is also a commentary on how global powers must address a problem that has become unmanageable.

The Ubyssey -Monday, May 18th, 2009 – link