As with all movies, not all documentaries are good
– although they probably have a higher average (at least among those that get
released) than features. Still the following docs just weren’t very good this
year. Burt’s Buzz (Jody Shapiro) has
a fascinating subject, full of contradictions, but doesn’t explore him with any
real detail. Citizen Koch (Carl Deal
& Tia Lessin) has a lot to say about money and politics, but nothing
new, and wrapped in a rather dull package. Doc
of the Dead (Alexandre O. Phillipe) tries to track the
zombie craze, but again barely skims the surface. Milius (Joey
Figueroa & Zak Knutson) is perhaps too laudatory of its larger than life
subject – and never gets to the person, just the legend. Mitt (Greg Whiteley) presented a more human portrait of former Presidential candidate Mitt
Romney – but what emerges is still dull. Teenage (Matt Wolf) has a fascinating premise – investigating the 20th
Century concept of teenagers, but remains rather dryly academic. Turtle Power (Randall
Lobb) tracks
the decade’s long journey of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but once again
never asks its subjects the tough questions.
A notch above those docs are of the following. Altman (Ron Mann) is a good
introduction to the great filmmaker, but does skim the surface. The
Battered Bastards of Baseball (Chapman & Maclain Way) is a fun
little doc about a fun little baseball team – nothing more, nothing less. A Brony Tale (Brent
Hodge) looks at the cult of adult male My Little Pony fans
– and gives the movement exactly the depth its subject deserves (not much). Dancing in Jaffa (Hilla Medalia) is
perhaps too idealistic, in its look at a man who tries to teach ballroom
dancing to Israeli and Palestinian children – but it’s not bad. Fed
Up (Stephanie Soechtig) doesn’t tell us anything we don’t know about the
danger of sugar and other foods – but presents it all well. The Galapagos
Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Daniel Geller
& Dayna Goldfine) has a fascinating true crime subject – but takes
far too long to say too little. Korengal
(Sebastian Junger) is a decent companion
piece to his Oscar nominated Restrepo – but doesn’t really add much to what
came before. Lost for Life (Joshua Rofe)
is about teenagers sentenced to life in prison for murder – and whether
that’s good or bad – but doesn’t quite go deep enough.
The
next group are all fine documentaries – not great, but solid nonetheless. The Final Member (Jonah Bekhor & Zach
Math) is an eccentric documentary about eccentric men who either run, or
want to have their member displayed, in the world’s only penis museum. Gore Vidal: The
United States of Amnesia (Nicholas D. Wrathall) is a fine introduction to the late writer-political
iconoclast, but has a subject too big for 90 minutes. Ivory Tower (Andrew Rossi) is about the
rising the cost of University – and whether it’s worth it. Keep On Keepin’ On (Alan Hicks) is a fine film about the
relationship between a jazz legend and his protégé. Maidentrip (Jillian Schlesinger) is about an extraordinary teenage
girl, who sets out to be the youngest person ever to travel around the world –
alone – by sailboat. Print the Legend
(Luis Lopez & J. Clay Tweel) is a very good doc about the war between
companies creating 3-D printers. Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (Mike
Myers) is
an entertaining doc about the legendary showbiz agent, by one of his friends
and clients. To Be Takei (Jennifer
M. Kroot) is as funny and engaging as its subject – the
wonderful George Takei – from his childhood in an internment camp to life on
Star Trek to gay rights activist.
If I had seen fewer documentaries, the following
may well have found their way on to my top 10 list for the year. The Case Against 8 (Ben Cotner & Ryan
White) is an emotional doc about the five year legal battle to overturn
California’s Prop 8 – banning gay marriage – fought my unlikely allies. Finding Fela (Alex Gibney) is a
complicated portrait of a complicated musician from Africa. The Internet’s Own Boy (Brian Knappenberger) is the story
of a young genius, who was targeted by the government to be made an example of
for cybercrime, despite never really doing anything that bad, with tragic
results. The Kill Team (Dan Krauss) is an undeniably important, powerful doc – but I think it needed to dig
a little deeper to be truly great. Manakamana
(Stephanie
Spray & Pacho Velez) is another fascinating, if at times dull, film from
the great people at the Harvard Ethnographic Lab. Particle Fever (Mark Levinson) is about the CERN super collider
and what the experiments result could mean to humanity. Tim’s Vermeer (Teller) asks some rather fascinating questions
about the nature of art – even if, at times, it’s a rather dull sit. Whitey: USA vs. James J. Bulger (Joe
Berlinger) is about Whitey Bulger, and the whether or not he was a
government informant – and why precisely we should care if he was.
Top 10
Alejandro Jodorowsky is a visionary director – best known for such cult classics as El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973). After those two films, Jodorowsky set to work on what was to be his epic masterpiece – an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic, Dune. The film uses interviews with Jodorowsky and his collaborators, as well as much of the artwork they created to show how the film would look and feel, to explain why he would have done, who he would have cast, etc. had the funding not fallen through fairly late in the process. Watching the film, I couldn’t help but wish that the film somehow existed – that Jodorowsky had of gotten his chance to make it. But I’m not as convinced as Jodorowsky that the result would have been a masterpiece – it actually may have ended up being a complete and total mess (and considering Jodorowsky said his version may have been hugely long – I believe he said that if needed to be 16 hours, than it would 16 hours it could have been a long mess). Watching the film, I couldn’t help but wish we could see the non-existent film it is about – but I also fully understood why the studio that was going to fund it backed out. How much money would you to this crazy man’s vision?
9.
The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh)
Ruthy Panh has spent his career trying to document his country of Cambodia and their lost years, when they were run by the Khmer Rouge. In his latest film, nominated for an Oscar last year for Foreign Language Film, Panh uses clay figurines to stand in for himself and his family during those years – when they were taken away from everything they know, and thrown into camps where they watched the atrocities play out all around them. He uses these figurines, because the Khmer Rouge made sure there was no, or at least, very little photographic record of what they did – just propaganda films. In order to show what happened, and not just make a movie with talking head, Panh had to get creative. The figurines don’t move, but the camera does, and the result is strangely beautiful – especially when combined with the narration. The film manages to expose his countries brutal past, and do so in a beautiful and emotional way.
Ruthy Panh has spent his career trying to document his country of Cambodia and their lost years, when they were run by the Khmer Rouge. In his latest film, nominated for an Oscar last year for Foreign Language Film, Panh uses clay figurines to stand in for himself and his family during those years – when they were taken away from everything they know, and thrown into camps where they watched the atrocities play out all around them. He uses these figurines, because the Khmer Rouge made sure there was no, or at least, very little photographic record of what they did – just propaganda films. In order to show what happened, and not just make a movie with talking head, Panh had to get creative. The figurines don’t move, but the camera does, and the result is strangely beautiful – especially when combined with the narration. The film manages to expose his countries brutal past, and do so in a beautiful and emotional way.
8. Virunga (Orlando von Einsiedel)
The Congo is rich in
natural resources – so it has been exploited for a long time by various
countries and corporations – most often with the support of those in power (or
those seeking to be in power, as you never know when a new rebel group is going
to come up). Orlando von Einsiedel's Virunga is about the park rangers, and
others, who want to protect Virunga National Park – a diverse ecosystem, and
the only place in the world some Mountain Gorillas still live. Drilling for oil
in the park would violate both international and Congo law – but that doesn’t
mean there are people out there who want to do just that. With another war on
the horizon, it becomes clear that those seeking power are more than willing to
sell out their own country in order to gain a little bit of power. The film is
inspirational and heartfelt – especially in the scenes where we see the rangers
care for a few injured gorillas, and is also a muck racking expose, complete
with hidden camera interviews with people who make it very clear what they
want. What the oil company behind these plans are practicing is colonialism by
another name. Virunga is fascinating, emotional, infuriating and inspiring –
and an absolute must-see.
7. Finding Vivian Maier (John Maloof
& Charlie Siskel)
Vivian Maier spent her life working as a nanny, and
other jobs over the years, but was really a photographer. She spent years
taking pictures on the streets of Chicago, which captured all walks of humanity
in an interesting life. During her life, she tried – a little – to get her
photos seen, but didn’t really follow through on it. Instead, she kept all her
photos – and everything else she ever collected, in her apartment or storage
lockers – many never even developed. Since her death however, her work has been
discovered, and shown in some galleries to acclaim. Finding Vivian Maier was
co-directed by John Maloof, who owns much of Maier’s work, and has gone on a
mission to try and figure out who this artist was. Yes, you can raise some
ethical concerns in the movie – for one, Maloof wants to generate more interest
in Maier, to make more money for himself, and two, if Maier is no longer
around, who knows how she would like her work to be displayed. But these are
often issues in docs – and this one remains a fascinating portrait of a
disturbed woman, who was obsessed with one thing – and did it well, leaving
behind a legacy that will be remembered more than she as a person will be.
Would she like that? I have no idea – but I found the doc fascinating just the
same.
6. Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (Chiemi Karasawa)
We lost stage and screen legend Elaine Stritch this
year, making this documentary portrait of her even more poignant than it
otherwise would have been. Unlike many films that focus on a celebrity, Chiemi
Karasawa’s portrait of Stritch, as she prepares to go back on stage singing the
songs of her good friend Stephen Sondheim, is not overly reverent of the woman.
The film shows Stritch in all her glamorous vanity and insecurity. Stritch was
a larger than life figure for a reason – and Stritch does nothing to detract
from her legacy. But the film does reveal her human side as well – the side
that will not let her stop working, although constantly nervous that she won’t
be able to perform the way she wants to. It also reveals her struggle with
alcoholism – which lasted until the end. Celebrity documentaries are a staple
of the doc genre – but very few are as personal or revealing as this one was.
5. Rich Hill (Andrew
Droz Palmero & Tracy Droz Tragos)
Rich
Hill is a beautiful film, about three boys who live in a very poor town in
Missouri. This has led some to label the film “poverty porn” – which to me is
an odd thing, as it seems to argue that there can be no beauty in poverty
stricken areas or lives, which I just don’t believe. The film follows three
boys – all of whom have some sort of issues, with mental illness, abuse or
other such things. The movie doesn’t flinch away from those issues – it doesn’t
paint a rosy picture of their lives now, or their hope for the future. Instead,
what it does it show it head on – in all the pain, but also beauty that is
there in their lives. Poverty is a major issue in America – one few seem willing
to address. Rich Hill does so in a way that isn’t preachy, but is heartbreaking
and real.
4. 20,000 Days on Earth
(Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard)
Out
of all the movies that were portraits of celebrities this year, 20,000 Days on
Earth about Nick Cave is easily the best. Yes, like many, it presents the
celebrity exactly as they want to be presented – but in the case of this film it’s
such a fascinating portrait I didn’t much care. The movie does cover some of
the same bases as other musical docs – as Cave talks about the connection with
the audience and the high of performing. But it also delves deep into his
songwriting techniques, his childhood, his music in general, his marriage, his
kids, his friend and musical soulmate Warren Ellis, and his ever strange
psyche. Cave wants to remain somewhat enigmatic – and he succeeds – because the
film is so strange, with moments of him at “therapy”, some strange
conversations in his car with other celebrities – presented as being in his
mind only. The film is far from a straight ahead doc, even if it does in many
ways superficially resemble one. But instead of straight biography, directors
Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard try to present what it’s like inside Cave’s head
– a fascinating place indeed. I’m not even that big of a Cave fan – but this
was still a great doc.
3. Citizenfour (Laura
Poitras)
I’m
not sure I walked away from Citizenfour with quite the portrait of Edward
Snowden that director Laura Poitras wanted me to – or what some of the film’s
biggest fans leave thinking. I’m not convinced that we should be “protecting”
Snowden as a whistleblower and not criminally prosecuting him for treason – he
did reveal top secret information, and even if it is important information, the
entire idea of “intelligence” agencies completely falls apart if everyone just
revealed whatever information they personally thought was vital. And I’m not
quite sure I buy Snowden’s story that it was all done out of idealism on his
part. Having said that however, I still found the documentary absolutely
fascinating – a glimpse inside one of the biggest news stories in years, as it
is happening. The film is even more fascinating in telling this story – the how
the story got out, then the information itself (which, of course, we already
knew since it was everywhere last year). And Poitras does a masterful job at
building the suspense, the paranoia that they were all feeling as it was
happening (and still feel today – in some cases more justified than others). It
is also an important documentary – one that should be watched by anyone, no
matter what their opinion on Edward Snowden is. If you view it through whatever
opinion you already have, you likely won’t change your mind – but if you go in
with an open mind, you may be surprised by what you think by the end.
2. The Last of the
Unjust (Claude Lanzmann)
Claude
Lanzmann has devoted the last 40 years to making documentaries about the
Holocaust. His masterpiece in Shoah (1985) – his 9 hour documentary that
focused on the small details of what happened, and how, to give us a much
larger picture of it all. It is, quite simply, the best Holocaust film in
history. The Last of the Unjust is Lanzmann’s biggest, and longest, film since
then – clocking in at nearly four hours focusing on Benjamin Murmelstein, the
last living Jewish elder – those who, in the view of some, collaborated with
the Nazis in running the death camps. Murmelstein was the elder in charge of
Theresienstadt – the “show” camp that the Nazis setup to try and convince the
outside world they were treating the Jews well inside the camp. Murmelstein
worked closely with Adolf Eichmann – which has led many to brand him a traitor.
But Murmelstein sees things differently – that he was a man trying to do the
best for as many people as he could. Lanzmann’s film, like Shoah, delves in
deep into the inner workings of the mechanisms of the Holocaust, but is more
narrowly focused. It isn’t quite the masterpiece Shoah is – no film, of any
kind, this year was – but it’s a great one anyway.
1. Life Itself (Steve
James)
I have written about Roger Ebert before – and
how if it wasn’t for Ebert, I probably never would have become a film fan in
the first place, and how his death affected me deeper than any celebrity death
ever has before, or since. Steve James’ documentary, based on Ebert’s wonderful
book of the same name, started filming when Ebert was still alive – with his
full participation – and ended up documenting his life right up until the end.
This is easily the most emotional documentary of the year – it made me cry any
number of times – but it’s not just its emotional content that makes it great.
The film is a portrait of Ebert as both a persona, and a movie lover. It serves
as a reminder of why those who love movies love them so much. It also contains
a fascinating portrait of his complicated friendship with Gene Siskel. And it’s
also a portrait of his marriage – it’s almost as much a film about Chaz Ebert
as about her husband, and their marriage is one we should all aspire to. And it’s
also a fascinating, heartfelt film about death – and how we deal with that in
life. There is a lot going on in Life Itself – which ably shows why Roger Ebert
was not “just a film critic”. And why it’s easily the best doc of the year.
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