The cover
promises a colossal rumble combining gangsters, grittiness and surfing, all
narrated by Edward Norton. Sadly, it only delivers on the surfing and the
Norton narration. This is a low key TV style documentary that charts the rise
of surf culture and professional surfing on the beaches of Hawaii in the
1970’s. There’s a bit of ‘handbags’ at one stage, but no shots are fired and
the whole thing hardly registers on the gritty scale. That being said, why did
I end up enjoying the experience as much as I did?
This is a
world I never knew existed. The main characters are now middle aged men, but
have lost none of the cocksure bravado that made them surf pioneers, and they
tell the story with a passion and optimism that drags you into their tiny
little world. Suddenly, Rabbit Bartholomew, PT Townend and Mark Richards are
your best buddies as they reminisce about more innocent times and an attitude
that revolutionised the sport. It’s not unlike several of your favourite uncles
telling tall tales about their youthful exploits, but in a specialised field
that no-one else cares about, for instance taxidermy, teabag folding (I care about teabag folding, it's great - evlkeith) or extreme
couponing.
There’s some
pretty impressive surfing footage of the aforementioned middle aged heroes in
their pomp. They do all kinds of tricky moves that I didn’t fully appreciate,
usually in slow motion and more often than not, emerging from the inside the
heart of a wave, and it’s impressive and often beautiful for the first one
hundred times, but thereafter starts to lose its appeal. Don’t get your hopes
up, there’s no gritty violence on show, no-one gets bitten by a shark or even
stung by a jelly fish. This is documentary making of the slower paced variety,
even by the standards of Werner Herzog, although admittedly less interesting.
There are
basically only two reasons you’ll like this film; a) you love surfing, or b)
you are a sad middled age man and can empathise with these guys as they tell
their preposterous tales from their forgotten youth. Watch with non-existent
expectations and you may be surprised. 4.5/10 Doccortex If you like this you could also try: Waveriders, The Endless Winter - A Very British Surf Movie
Stories We Tell has intrigued me since I first read about it: a look into a family's life through interviews, old Super 8 footage and photographs, and it's Sarah Polley's family to boot. Seeing as though I love Shooting the Pastand Perfect Strangers, I was always going to like this.
And in a predictable fashion, I do. Whereas the stories in the above dramas were completely cracking little tales, usually involving nazis somewhere along the way, the main story in Stories We Tell isn't really that interesting. But that's what makes it good.
The film is all about the relationship between Sarah's parents, Michael and Diane Polley. Michael is a bit of a loner who quite likes the company of solitary flies (he's not that keen if there's more than one though) - a man after my own heart if ever there was one. Diane is a fun-loving extrovert who loves going out dancing. Not really a couple that you'd put together, but Stories We Tell documents their life together.
Interviews with Michael and his three other children (Sarah is the interviewer) form the bulk of Stories We Tell. There are other players in this tale, other people from the past, who also get their fair share of interview time. The stories they tell don't always gel, possibly due to their perspective and the unreliability of memory.
These interviews are supplemented with photos and Super 8 films, both real and fake. The photos and real footage are great, as you'd expect. The fake footage meanwhile has the effect of pulling the viewer out of the story. At its worst, its like a really bad Crimewatch UK reconstruction. Except with a comedy porn tache. The actor playing Michael gets the job of wearing the offending furry item and it always raises a smile. It would have been preferable to have 100% real footage but obviously this isn't always possible. The fake footage is a compromise that is probably needed to help tell the story. Shame about the tache though.
The story isn't stunning in any shape or form. It is a slice of real life and that's what makes it so powerful. In films we generally expect stories to be really cleverly written with twists and turns and exciting incidents. But here we get a relatively simple story (not to say that there aren't some little twists) and we can watch the effect it has on a family and the real emotional impact. This film has surely got something that will resonate with everyone. (Okay, maybe not with a reclusive pig coveting mountain man called Mary.)
This isn't a film that I would rewatch on a regular basis but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless. I think, based on this evidence, that Sarah Polley has booked her place in a future FA Cup of Actors. 7/10 evlkeith If you like this you could also try: Shooting the Past, Perfect Strangers, Joe's Palace.
After seeing Cockneys vs Zombies recently, I need a shot of Northern goodness. Now, here's a little TV movie that was set and shot in Sheffield. Ooh, that should be nice. Threads, probably about a sewing club or some other heart warming activity. I'll make a nice cup of tea, prepare the ginger nuts and settle down for an evening of feel good entertainment. Right. Press play... oh, this is all rather unpleasant.
Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale from Home to Roost) and Ruth (Karen Meagher) are a young couple listening to the football results in a car, overlooking the beautiful city of Sheffield. They are so happy that Man Utd have been beaten that they partake in a bit of nookie. As often happens, this leads to a severe case of pregnancy. But Jimmy sticks by Ruth and they decide to get married. Everything is looking rosy. Radio and television broadcasts paint a different picture, one of an impending nuclear war. Things escalate until war breaks out and the first bomb hits Sheffield.
This is one of the bleakest and realistic films that I've had the pleasure of watching. Normally when there's a nuclear explosion in a film it's fairly impressive, but nothing compared to the impact the bomb blast has in Threads. Seeing the mushroom cloud appear over the tops of the buildings in Sheffield city centre is scary to say the least. Maybe it's worse because I know the area. It feels more relevant, personal and realistic than seeing London or the White House destroyed. (Plus, when the bomb explodes, a woman in the street has a little bit of a wee - and lets it dribble down her leg Great Escape style - so it must be pretty terrifying.)
What makes it even more realistic (and scary) is its structure. It's part drama and part documentary. The drama follows Jimmy and Ruth through the attack. The documentary comes in the form of title cards that appear detailing how many bombs have been dropped, how much damage has been done and how many survivors are left amongst other cheery details. It feels like one of the old public service announcements that were designed to make you brick yourself into doing what your told. (I still veer away from dark and lonely water to this day.)
I never need much of an excuse to post this, but here it is again.
I can't see anything this powerful being made by the BBC now, with its preoccupation with making the blandest, glossy, politically correct and most average products designed to keep everyone pleasantly happy. Threads probably didn't make anyone happy. In fact, it probably made everyone think that all this nuclear warfare malarkey is a tad overrated. It is a smidgen too long with a drop in pace towards the end, but it has to be one of the best pieces of television ever made.
8/10
evlkeith
If you like this you could also try: The War Game, The Day After, When the Wind Blows.
Brilliant, I thought, a cross between Deep Space 9 and Strictly Come Dancing. What can go wrong? Surely Alexander Siddig and Bruce Forsyth are in it? Er... no. And it's a film about a man trying to recall his memories of events in the 1982 Lebanon War. Ah... maybe this isn't the light-hearted sequin festival I was expecting.
When Ari Folman (the director) was 19 years old, he was a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. After realising that he has been burying memories about a massacre being perpetrated by members of the Lebanese Christian Phalange militia, he interviews various people, including a psychologist and people who he believes were there with him. So Waltz with Bashir is a documentary. But it's also animated.
The animation is slightly disappointing with a severe Flash animation look. It takes a while to accept it, although it helps that there are some gorgeous images. One recurring image of Ari and two of his buddies rising from the water at sunset and walking, naked, towards the city, is particularly great. Another aspect of the film that goes a long way to glossing over the dubious animation is the music. The minimalist score by Max Richter is one of my favourites for quite a while. Well worth a listen.
I've reviewed a couple of films recently that employ the use of switching between styles or techniques to create a great emotional impact (colour to black and white news footage in The Hindenburg, and black and white to colour in Portrait of Jennie). At a critical moment, Waltz with Bashir uses a similar technique. It pulls the film together and makes the story real for the viewer. Great stuff.
The thread of Ari trying to recall his lost memories runs through the film and is probably the most engaging aspect. Other stories are woven into this, but they are not necessarily connected, creating a larger picture of war. This gives the film the feel of an anthology with the usual problem of some parts being better than others. Despite this, if a film is able to make me interested enough in an historical event to make me want to learn more, then it's got to be pretty good (and it's also way better than any Star Trek/glitter prance crossover could ever hope to be).
7/10 evlkeith
If you like this you could also try: Persepolis, City of Life and Death, The Congress.
This is a bizarre film. It's interesting and thought provoking, however not necessarily that awe inspiring. The premise of the documentary is to follow artist Vik Muniz as he creates art from the lives of the workers and recycled materials of the largest landfill site in all of Brazil. The film is enjoyable on some levels and less so on others, and can basically be split into three distinct areas.
1. As an investigation into the lives of the Jardin Gramacho 'pickers' the film provided an excellent portrayal of the tough and exhausting lives of the team of workers who root through tons of rubbish to scavenge for all manner of recycled material. The stories of all the participants were handled beautifully and it was a heart-warming experience to see the camaraderie and sense of family in the pickers association. If nothing else the project lifted their self esteem and bank balances, at least in the short term.
2. The exploration of Muniz's artistic process was also fascinating. From the initial concept and photography, through to the final gallery displays the attention to detail and love of the subject matter was evident. Ultimately the art was at times breathtaking in its scale and relevance. Muniz takes the idea of a 'large Art Attack' to a whole new level and just shows what Neil Buchanan could have achieved if he'd been given the budget to take Art Attack to global locations.
3. The most disappointing part of the film is the project itself, which left me feeling the participants had been used in some way. Vik's plan had certain aspects in common with the plot of 'My Fair Lady', but attempting to make the pickers into world famous artists which left me feeling slightly uncomfortable. The film doesn't shirk the issue as Vic's wife brilliantly voices her concerns and wariness, but Vic disappointingly refuses to listen and basically tells her to 'shut it.' I'm sure he would argue the creation of this sense of 'unease' in the viewer is all part of the art. It did really make me think, but I'm still not sure of the morality of the whole project.
At first glance the juxtaposition of grittiness and art looks like an odd combination, but Walker produces an excellent and at times moving documentary that is engaging for both grit fans and art aficionados. If only they'd gone with Andy Goldsworthy instead of Muniz - the mind boggles at what he could have achieved.
6/10
Doccortex
If you like this you could also try: Rivers and Tides - Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time, Love Is The Devil, Art Attack - Top 20 (VHS).
A laudable and interesting documentary based in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. It's possibly as gritty as documentaries get in terms of both style and subject matter, but never really registers on the excitement-o-meter. The film follows the lives and work of Brazilian musicians and youth organisation AfroReggae as they battle to save local kids from the clutches of the drug cartels and lure them into more wholesome pursuits of music making.
The star man in the proceedings is head honcho Anderson Sa, who comes across as a man of complete integrity and honesty. He strives to educate children on the dangers of becoming drug soldiers, performs with his rap group and generally acts like the voice of common sense. The moment where he stands firm against a lynch mob from the neighbouring favela is particularly impressive, however the most moving scenes in the film show his stunning work in drumming workshops with local children banging a range of plastic containers and tins to produce inspiring music.
The documentary is shot in a edgy, gritty style with handheld cameras, silhouetted interviews and secret footage of the drug gangs, which combine to give the impression that the film-makers were taking their lives into their own hands on the streets of the favelas. There are also some lovely panoramic shots of Brazilian landscapes which add to the feeling of the vast scale of urban poverty in Rio. It's ultimately successful in presenting this dangerous and deprived area in a more positive light, and almost acts as a perfect source of background information for South American gritty film fans. The real life Elite Squad cops make an appearance and if anything are even more extreme in their real life exploits than in the film, Elite Squad!
Despite all the positives you can't help but feel that the film would be better suited to the small screen and doesn't quite have the cinematic star quality or detail of top documentaries like Into the Abyss. It's enjoyable and inspiring, but possibly only suited to committed grit fans or world music lovers.
5/10
Doccortex
If you like this you could also try: Carandiru, Elite Squad, Bus 174, Sin Nombre.
On evlkeith's advice I'm tasting the work of obscurendure legend Werner Herzog for the first time. Well actually it's the second time, because I watched Grizzly Man a few years ago, but took very little notice other than to arrive at the view that the main protagonist of the film deserved to get eaten by the bears. (Perhaps a tad harsh - evlkeith). I decided to revisit the documentary, armed with my new understanding and appreciation of the master director.
Maybe I was a little harsh the first time around. The documentary focuses on the life of the late Timothy Treadwell; an eco-warrior with a love of North America's bear population. Treadwell felt such affinity with these animals that he spent his Summers living in the wild with bears, often naming, petting, cuddling and treating them like his buddies. I'm sure I'm not giving much away by informing you that Treadwell was ultimately killed and eaten by a rogue grizzly. The only surprise is that he survived thirteen Summers in the wild.
The film is interesting in its portrayal of the contrasting sides of Timothy's life. On the one hand Treadwell is a naive, childlike enthusiast and protector of the bears, while on the other he is an irritating, deluded self-publicist with a limited understanding of the environment he has entered. As a film maker he produces some amazing shots and sequences of bears hunting, fighting and his 'friend' the fox's life and interactions, but ultimately spoils them with his own self-important ranting.
The second star of the film is undoubtedly Werner Herzog, who provides an emotional and heartfelt commentary to proceedings. He appears genuinely upset on hearing the tape of Treadwell's ultimate demise and showed his respect for his subject throughout, while still presenting the alternative views of professional environmentalists. It's not a classic by any means, but it's an interesting and emotive little journey with some beautiful imagery.
5/10
Doccortex
If you like this you could also try: Into the Abyss, Encounters at the End of the World, The White Diamond.
This is not the Werner I'm used to. This is more like his other more recent work, such as Grizzly Man. And, to be honest, (normally I'm a right liar) it's a lot better than his earlier animal bothering offerings.
1. The crime.
Werner follows an inmate on death row and interviews people involved in the crime, family members and officials who deal with the whole process of death. Michael Perry was convicted of murdering a mother and was suspected of killing two teenagers. The intent was to steal a car. As the Sheriff states in the film, three people died over a red Camaro and the perpetrators were only in possession of it for about forty-eight hours.
2. Interview style.
Rather than employing someone else to interview the people involved, Werner dives straight in there and gets his hands dirty. He loves getting to the nitty-gritty of what happened and how they feel about it. At one point he even makes a joke about Perry's accomplice, Jason Burkett, who had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his side. He doesn't see the funny side. Werner does. And has a little chuckle.
3. Most preposterous story.
One of the people interviewed - I'm not really sure who he was - told a story of having a fight with someone and there being an incident involving a foot long screwdriver. This injury would have surely caused death within minutes. The bloke didn't even bother going to the hospital. A tale worthy of Ken McKenzie.
This clip has nothing whatsoever to do with the film. Great song though.
4. The death penalty.
Werner wastes no time in saying that he doesn't agree with the death penalty. He ascertains from one of the victim's daughters that she felt that justice would be carried out with life imprisonment. Possibly Werner's ace in the hole is his interview with one of the men responsible for looking after the inmates in their final hours, strapping them down and administering the fatal injections. I won't give details, but whilst watching I thought that if I was going to be executed I wouldn't mind this friendly fellow doing it. (Well, maybe I would. But you know what I mean.)
5. Hard lives.
One of the most amazing things about hearing about these people's live is how unlucky they are. Some of the interviewees have lost all or virtually all of their families under various circumstances. Either that or they're all in prison. It must be a nightmare getting life insurance in Conroe, Texas.
6. Enjoyable?
This is a good, well-made film but not one that I would want to watch again. I was constantly interested and at times amazed by some of the goings on. Definitely worth watching once. Recommended.
Epilogue
On the walk back to the car park after seeing this, Doccortex and I were egged. Well, someone tried to. I felt something brush my stomach. The Doc felt something brush his leg. Then we saw the egg explode on the pavement. A dubious looking car sped past. How lucky was that? (We were not so lucky in Peasholm Park, when a goose decide to lighten its load on us, but that's another story.) I'm hoping that my luck holds out for the lottery tonight. I wonder whether Werner would agree with the death penalty for egg throwers...
7/10 evlkeith
If you like this you could also try: Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
