A Dangerous Game (2014)
In this sequel to the award-winning You’ve Been Trumped, director Anthony Baxter once again follows American billionaire Donald Trump and a cast of other greedy characters who want to turn some of the Earth’s most precious places into golf courses and playgrounds for the super rich. From the historic site of Dubrovnik to the ancient sand dunes and rolling green hills of the seaside town of Balmedie, these tycoons bully local residents, influence governments, ignore local referendums and even meddle in national environmental policies to acquire their latest trophies. With in-depth interviews and Baxter’s expert storytelling, we learn just how devastating these golf courses can be to the surrounding countryside and water tables. In this funny, inspiring and at times heartbreaking David and Goliath story for the 21st century, the locals don’t give in easily. But will their fight be enough to protect their land and traditional way of life?
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I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Greetings again from the darkness. Donald Trump is the closest thing we have to a real life Snidely Whiplash. He is fascinating and entertaining in his arrogance, and the poster child of evil for the 99-percenters. Documentarian Anthony Baxter delivers a follow-up to his award-winning 2011 documentary You've Been Trumped, and this time we get the face-to-face showdown between Trump and Baxter though it's quite brief.Baxter revisits Trump's Menie Estate development in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and in the process catches up any viewer who missed the first film, while also exploring planned development on the last remaining natural state land in the area. The film's best segment focuses on an unrelated planned development (golf and luxury homes) in the Heritage area of Dubrovnik in Croatia. We see the real struggle of the "little guys" as they fight back against corporate greed and civic corruption. The third segment involves New Jersey, and the key point seems to be that Don Trump Jr is every bit as annoying and arrogant as his father.Baxter's film is loosely structured, but certainly raises some interesting points about how the wealthy can abuse their power at the expense of ecology, history, and the huddled masses. Drought conditions on SRD in Dubrovnik? No worries we will just buy enough water to keep the fairways green and putting surfaces plush. One of the local farms not quaint enough? No worries we will just berm the perimeter and cutoff the resident's access to the seashore. We also see the corruption of local leaders and local government. It's especially disheartening in Dubrovnik as the locals gain 11,000 signatures to force a referendum, only to be steamrolled by the Mayor.The sit down interview with Trump and Baxter is somewhat of a letdown, but it does feature two men who believe strongly in their views. One could walk away from the film with a feeling of helplessness, but in reality, it provides a hopeful message for strength in numbers and fighting for what one believes in.
This film takes up where 'You've been Trumped' ends and takes the investigation further at the Menie Estate and into an unrelated luxury golf course development proposed for the vulnerable hills above Dubrovnik in Croatia.The film was probably made on a shoestring (or an overdraft), but does not look constrained at all as it covers a lot of ground with great pictures of golf courses in several countries.It is discouraging, but I guess not at all unexpected, that none of the promises made by Donald Trump for his development at the Menie Estate North of Aberdeen have been fulfilled. More disappointing is the way that Trump's victimised neighbours have been failed by Aberdeen Council and by the local MP, Alex Salmond. The revelation that Sarah Malone, the Vice President of Trump is married to the Editor of the Aberdeen Press and Journal, goes a long way to explaining the pro-Trump stance taken by that newspaper.The film also investigates an unrelated, and yet strikingly similar, project to build a golf course in the environmentally sensitive hills above Dubrovnik, against the democratically expressed and overwhelming objections of the local population.The film shows interviews with a range of deeply unpleasant people, including the Mayor of Dubrovnik and Donald Trump Junior.There is also a final interview with Donald Trump himself, who remains utterly convinced, of course, that he is right and everyone else is wrong.The film manages to cover a great deal of ground very well, including technical issues about chemical use and aquifer contamination - and environmental damage - and yet is actually quite suspenseful. An excellent film that deserves a very wide audience...