CIA Covert Experiments (2015)

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*Get a copy of Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison by Allen Hornblum on Amazon here*
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This sloppy documentary about the 1951 mass poisoning of the small French village of Pont-Saint-Esprit isn't very convincing about whether the American CIA was responsible, but it does provide a good jumping-off point about the horrors our government has inflicted on innocent citizens in the United States and around the world.

In 1951, a couple of hundred people in the small town basically went completely insane, with seven people dying while under the influence. The cause of the outbreak was blamed on tainted bread from a local baker, who was cleared of any wrongdoing. Thanks to some declassified documents, the town is mentioned along with the name Frank Olson, who was synonymous with governmental wrongdoing and illegal experimentation. Did the American government spray the infected bread with LSD, just to see what would happen? Whether the CIA or any other governmental agency had anything to do with the case isn't proven, but the viewer is given a lot of testimony and proof of other activities, and our mealy-mouthed apologies decades later as other experimentation cases were dropped and forgotten.

The film is way too short to cover everything that the government did wrong in the past, and maybe should have stuck with just the mass poisoning. Scant attention is given to it as the viewer is bombarded with other names and events. Unfortunately, this isn't "proof" that the CIA is involved, but considering what they did to others, it is a possibility. Words like "Operation Paperclip" and "MKULTRA" are bandied about, and many of the interview subjects (especially the investigators and victims) know what they are talking about. You don't want to believe our government is capable of this, but considering the mountains of information exposed to the general public on a daily basis, the conspiracy theorists of yesterday are the independent journalists of today. "CIA Covert Experiments" isn't great filmmaking, but it's not easy to excuse. Originally an episode on French television's "Docs interdits" entitled "Un village empoisonné par la CIA? Pont Saint Esprit 1951."

Stats:
(2015) 55 min. (* * 1/2) out of five stars
-Directed by Olivier Pighetti
-Featuring Collin Ross, Allen Hornblum, Karen Wetmore, Victor Marchetti, Hank Albarelli, James S. Ketchum, Youssef
Unrated- Physical violence, mild sexual references, strong adult situations, very strong drug references, very strong drug use