Leeds Film Festival 2012 Review: The Ambassador

rating:3.5

Pretend to be a diamond smuggling businessman posing as a Liberian ambassador to the Central African Republic (CAR) - that's the MO for Danish filmmaker Mads Brugger. Live a life of double-subterfuge for an unknown period of time in the most war-happy continent on Earth, in a country rife with corruption and political murder. Put a few laughs in it. This is revealing documentary The Ambassador, featuring a nihilistic performance from Mads Brugger - here both filmmaker and actor - playing a man for whom "great things can happen when you mix business with politics." Through hidden-camera footage of high-ranking African officials, we see what happens when man's humanity gets replaced with a void, in a place where anything goes. What unfolds over 93 minutes is a funny and frightening glance at the edge of the world. The comedy of The Ambassador sometimes sits uncomfortably alongside the more worrying developments in the film. There's an uneasy feeling from the off, when we learn just how easy it is to become an African diplomat (a few thousand pounds is apparently all it takes to get hold of a bumper pack including diplomatic passport and Liberian driving licence). Later, when the subjects of exploitation and murder are broached, the humour leaves a nastier taste. You may question whether Brugger took the right approach in making a comedy out of such a dark subject. That's just from an ethical standpoint, I suppose - there's no denying the sight of Brugger smoking a fat cigar atop his boat like a river king or awkwardly dancing with a pygmy tribe is laugh-out-loud funny. Like a lily white, red-bearded Sacha Baron Cohen, Brugger lives his larger-than-life character - a 19th century throwback - and happily leaves himself open to ridicule. It's only when his descent into Kurtz-like madness starts to seem too real that Brugger's performance distracts, Brugger the documentarian and Mads Cortzen, the sharp-suited, riding boot-wearing Consul merging into one. Morally The Ambassador enters questionable territory often. Not because Brugger is exploiting the blood diamond trade while making his documentary - that can at least be justified with its exposure in the film. But Brugger's positioning of those around him - especially his two pygmy assistants and translator Paul, who are regularly belittled for laughs - as semi-moronic will have you questioning who is in control: Brugger, or Consul Cortzen? It's a question that would be at the forefront of your mind if the documentary weren't so nimble and eye-opening. As corruption (Consul Cortzen is encouraged to greet CAR ministers with envelopes "full of happiness", actually bribes) and deception (business interests and contacts often go AWOL as soon as they're paid any money) are discussed so openly, you get the impression this forgotten Africa is the new Wild West. Abject danger is discussed with nonchalance - a hired pilot plainly tells the director that if he doesn't return from an inspection of a diamond mine on time, he'll assume he's been killed and take off. Most disturbing of all are the facts that point to covert European involvement in these free-for-all sectors of Africa. An inside source reveals to Brugger what he claims are France's connections to shady deals this side of the world, with French governmental intervention protecting business interests with little regard for the human cost. It's not the only 'legitimate' country with its hands dirty from African exploitation, according to the film. Stunning revelations abound, like how the majority of those that pay to be African diplomats have a criminal history, or how China is ostensibly gaining a foothold in Africa in what Brugger terms "a Cold War between east and west." Perhaps these are the reasons why Brugger thought the topic of neo-colonialism would work as a comedy: the facts are so unnerving, who's to say comic relief doesn't help the pill go down easier? Like Borat faced with graver dangers and with a serious message to boot, Consul Mads Brugger needs your attention. The Ambassador may be one long stunt, one which quite possibly could be a dark practical joke in Brugger's mind but - if you can - try looking past the often very funny Dane and take note what's going on around him. It's a prime view of chaos running another world, one which quite possibly could be spent before the century's out. For proof that white colonialism in Africa didn't die but instead flourished in secret, The Ambassador has to be seen.