Corinna Wichmann and Lukas Schmid would have you believe that in the divided world of Gated Community Residents vs. The Rest of Us, (to paraphrase countrywoman Heidi Klum), you in or you are out.
The most intriguing question posed by the co-directors of this understated but compelling documentary is: Which side of the fence would you want to be on? The documentarian’s narration-free project adroitly examines a world in which the price for a life free of worry is a world of experiential stillness. By globetrotting to locales defined by crime (Johannesburg), overcrowding (Bangalore) and consumerism (Las Vegas), the filmmakers introduce us to individuals sharing an existence of self-imposed solitude that denies them the realities of social change, both good and bad.
Wichmann and Schmid put their case forward most convincingly in the juxtaposition of the walled-in residents of the immaculately coiffed housing estates with the people who exist in the 'real’ world – the black South African gardeners, home servants and golf caddies who return to their shanty-town shacks after a day of tending to the wealthy closeted lifestyles of the Jo’burg whites; and the Indian infrastructure bureaucrat who idealistically serves the population of Bangalore whilst retreating at night to his suburban mansion.
The theme of 'Be careful what you wish for" is best represented by the distinguished, elderly gent Stacy, who has settled into a structured community called 'Spanish Trail’, near Las Vegas. Reluctantly embracing his twilight years, Stacy basks in vivid memories of times when he contributed both to the global community and his own growth as a human being. No such freedom exists for him now; his life is free of concerns for his physical well-being, but it is also lonely; his yearning for personal interaction is unrequited, his only daily companionship his greying Labrador, Scooter.
Wichmann’s and Schmid’s debut feature-length film is a restrained, admirable work in social studies. It achieves, without grandiose posturing, its dual aims of exposing the new class divide that is emerging from the midst of our planet’s population centres (the film’s final moments list several internationally established gated-communities, including Australia’s Hope Island) as well as being an insightful look at the impact upon the individuals that are the lifeblood of these communities.
If its subdued tone and absence of 'Do-as-I-say..." voiceover numbs its initial impact, On the Safe Side nevertheless presents a forceful case for an ongoing social injustice being wrought by wealthy developers and perpetrated, however blindly, by unaware upper middle class retirees.
