At the time of his 2008 arrest and subsequent extradition to the United States, “merchant of death” Viktor Bout’s reputation as an arms dealer was audacious enough to inspire a Nicolas Cage movie. But moving past the supervillain hype, The Notorious Mr. Bout retraces the career of a gung-ho, optimistic Russian entrepreneur who built an import/export empire during the wild, heady days when anything-goes capitalism swept away decades of Soviet communism. Our guides include Mr. Bout himself, recounting his life from behind bars, his dedicated wife Alla, and associates who helped Bout fly massive amounts of cargo in and out of Africa and the Middle East. The filmmakers cleverly build their film from a variety of archival sources, most importantly Viktor Bout’s own whimsical and upbeat home movies, which gleefully capture exotic adventures, oblivious to the human misery lurking off-screen. (DS)