The new Philistines, the giant global corporations, are not so easy to fell since the days David daringly took sling to defend and defy Goliath.
In PERCY vs GOLIATH, a successful seed sower and farmer, Percy Schmeiser has to defend himself against a major conglomerate, Monsanto, when the company’s genetically modified canola is discovered in his crops.
Percy’s family escaped European serfdom centuries ago and have been working the Canadian farm since, handing down germination lore for generations. He knows seed like the corporation knows greed.
The conglomerate employ an army of crop cops and a garrison of litigators to protect their patents having no tolerance for the natural law of seed dissemination like wind and fauna.
Fuelled by principles of fair play, Percy and his family risk everything defending themselves against the giant corporation while representing thousands of other disenfranchised farmers in a desperate war to protect farmers’ rights and the world’s food supply against corporate greed.
Christopher Walken is perfect as Percy, principled patriarch, publicity shy but pushed to go public by the unscrupulous corporate Goliath.
He’s perfectly matched by Roberta Maxwell as his supportive wife, Louise, a stoic powerhouse in her own right.
Speaking of support, the supporting cast is strikingly strong with Zac Braff summoning the spirit of Atticus Finch as Percy’s small town attorney, Jackson Weaver, a David-like advocate against the conglomerate Goliath of high powered lawyers.
Martin Donovan impresses as Monsanto’s lead lawyer Rick Aarons as does Christina Ricci as anti-GMO activist Rebecca Salcau.
Percy Vs. Goliath is as an archetypal story with a potent relevance to our times. Percy is a farmer whose knowledge, and sense of who he is, has been passed down through generations. His technique of saving seeds, his pride in his work, these are the things that defined him. The litigation he receives from Monsanto shakes him to his core. When they accuse him of stealing their seeds, to his ears they are casting doubt on his very identity.
Pride and principles can sometimes be misplaced, becoming pernicious. Revel in the exact opposite with Percy.