POWER TRIP — *** — Documentary on attempts to bring full-time electricity to Soviet Georgia; in English and Georgian, with English subtitles; not rated, probable R (profanity, violence, vulgarity, nude artwork).
Michael Moore would never approve of "Power Trip."
At times this documentary threatens to become a feature-length advertisement for Applied Energy Services, a U.S.-based corporation that is one of the world's largest electrical-power suppliers. And that alone would probably turn off Moore, the supposed crusader against corporate corruption, who would surely have turned the film into an examination of AES's connections to Enron.
But this feature-length documentary is more interested in exploring the effects of free enterprise on the former Soviet republic of Georgia, where electrical power is not a guaranteed service. And where it's certainly not to be taken for granted, as it is in the United States.
"Power Trip" chronicles the efforts on the part of AES officials to provide a constant source of electricity to Georgia's residents — and still make a tidy profit.
Documentarian Paul Devlin uses a former college friend — British-born Piers Lewis, now a lower-level AES project manager — to be the unlikely hero of this tale.
It's quite an endeavor for Lewis and his crews. First, they must accurately measure the usage needs of the area and figure out just how many of the Soviet Georgians are actually paying their accounts (at one point, a figure of 10 percent collections is given).
They also have to stop their potential customers from pirating power — not only because it cuts into their profit margin, but because it's also potentially dangerous.
And if that's not hard enough, AES also has to contend with corrupt Soviet officials, who are manipulating the power shortages to their own ends. Meanwhile, there's an internal power struggle within AES.
There are times when the film does falter in its fact-finding mission (few if any of the AES officials' claims are ever questioned). But Lewis is a likable presence (he's the one person who seems to have a sense of humor about the whole thing), and the quick primer in recent Russian history is quite welcome.
"Power Trip" is not rated but would probably receive an R for scattered use of strong sexual profanity and some crude slang terms, violence (rioting, as well as some warfare), shots of nude artwork, and a rather disturbing close-up of a corpse. Running time: 86 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com