October 29, 2008
Movie Recommendations #10: Documentaries
Most people avoid documentaries like the plague. Here's a few that aren't dry, dissertations about Mexican, lesbian farmers during the Dust Bowl or a hyperventilating Bush-Lied-Kids-Died bedwetting session. You can actually enjoy (or at least respect) these films.
In many ways, this is one of the better documentaries I've seen in recent years. I know its strange to say that about a movie about geeks fighting for the world record score in Donkey Kong. Many may consider this to be a frivolous movie about frivolous people. In some ways this is true, again, at it's core its just about losers attaching their self identity to their ability to score fantastically high scores on a 1980's arcade game. The arguments, conniving and shed tears in this movie are anchored in human stupidity - then again so are most things we strive after. All of this drama is perfectly captured. This odd, real life story is strangely compelling and is absolutely worth checking out.
This documentary exposes the tragic lives of the lost children found in the back street brothels in Calcutta. These children live in squalor, disease and pestilence, and with the soul numbing knowledge that their lives are already committed to prostitution. The kids live amongst the lines upon lines of whores and their johns in the dingy urban streets. The girls who grow up in this area know they are next ones in the line to sell their bodies once they reach age.
Filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman manage a deeper level of documentary with this exquisite film. Since a Westerner running around with a camera is not welcome in the ghetto, the couple is unable to shoot much of the footage themselves. In order to get the stories of this earthbound hellhole out to the rest of the world, they devise a great idea: they give the children of the neighborhood cameras and training on how to use them. The children know those who reside in the area and can get access to this world as it truly exists. Much of this film is constructed from the children’s pictures of the sex slaves, drugs addicts and trash that populate this awful place.
This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
This is a terrific documentary. Showing the personalities and personal politics involved in the full-contact wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympic Games, this movie not only serves to teach about quadriplegic life but how to play sports overall. The thing that struck me was how athletic these guys are, not in their physicality - but in their minds. Sports is more than just about physical achievement, there is a strong psychological and emotional value to it as well. This film expresses this beautifully.
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
In many ways, this is one of the better documentaries I've seen in recent years. I know its strange to say that about a movie about geeks fighting for the world record score in Donkey Kong. Many may consider this to be a frivolous movie about frivolous people. In some ways this is true, again, at it's core its just about losers attaching their self identity to their ability to score fantastically high scores on a 1980's arcade game. The arguments, conniving and shed tears in this movie are anchored in human stupidity - then again so are most things we strive after. All of this drama is perfectly captured. This odd, real life story is strangely compelling and is absolutely worth checking out.Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids (2004)
This documentary exposes the tragic lives of the lost children found in the back street brothels in Calcutta. These children live in squalor, disease and pestilence, and with the soul numbing knowledge that their lives are already committed to prostitution. The kids live amongst the lines upon lines of whores and their johns in the dingy urban streets. The girls who grow up in this area know they are next ones in the line to sell their bodies once they reach age. Filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman manage a deeper level of documentary with this exquisite film. Since a Westerner running around with a camera is not welcome in the ghetto, the couple is unable to shoot much of the footage themselves. In order to get the stories of this earthbound hellhole out to the rest of the world, they devise a great idea: they give the children of the neighborhood cameras and training on how to use them. The children know those who reside in the area and can get access to this world as it truly exists. Much of this film is constructed from the children’s pictures of the sex slaves, drugs addicts and trash that populate this awful place.
This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
Murderball (2005)
This is a terrific documentary. Showing the personalities and personal politics involved in the full-contact wheelchair rugby team at the Paralympic Games, this movie not only serves to teach about quadriplegic life but how to play sports overall. The thing that struck me was how athletic these guys are, not in their physicality - but in their minds. Sports is more than just about physical achievement, there is a strong psychological and emotional value to it as well. This film expresses this beautifully.Labels: movie recommendations
posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 8:00 AM
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1 Comments:
Scott: The arguments, conniving and shed tears in this movie are anchored in human stupidity - then again so are most things we strive after.
Agreed. Many of the things we get intensely, dramatically caught up in would seem stupid if we could step out of ourselves and consider them objectively.
I love Murderball and I thoroughly enjoyed King of Kong. I can't bring myself to watch Born Into Brothels. That movie looks like it's packing a good two weeks worth of depression. We actually burned a copy of ...Brothels when it was on Encore or IFC or something. But I've never been able to make myself watch it.
The King of Kong DVD has a number of extra features and "what happened next" follow-up bits about how the movie itself effected those involved. Surprisingly, the bonus features create the impression that Billy Mitchell isn't really a completely self-absorbed reptile.
Documentaries (real ones, as opposed to Michael Moore crap) are great. I love Errol Morris, even when I don't agree with his perspective. Berlinger and Sinofsky's films are good, too. Terry Zwigoff's Crumb is staggeringly good.
Have you seen American Movie? That's my favorite documentary and it's well worth your time. It's as funny and sad as Spinal Tap, but it's totally real. I watched it the first time in amazement, thinking "these people actually exist?"
I thought I was gonna take a few days off from blogging, but you've got me thinking about documentaries now...
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