Restrepo (2010)
Restrepo
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 out of 5
Directed by Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington
Featuring The Men of Battle Company 2nd of the 503rd Infantry Regiment 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team
In 2007, a platoon of soldiers was sent out into the Korengal valley. The most dangerous place for American soldiers to be in Afghanistan. They take fire every day, and every day, there is a high possibility that they could die. This is their story.
This is possibly the bravest documentary I’ve ever seen, it’s hard to fathom being in a place like the Korengal valley. It’s places like this that are the definition of hell on earth. Taking fire every single day, from every direction, and not knowing when or where it’ll be coming from. Knowing that no matter what, you will never be safe. I mean, that’s a lot of places in war, but at least in most places you can get somewhere where the stress of battle would stop. But Korengal is not like that. It would be constant stress, constant fear. I know I would go insane. This is the premise of Restrepo, following these soldiers as they deal with living in hell on earth for a full year. It’s incredibly well constructed, and constantly tense. You never know what’ll happen next, and the stress can get through the roof. And we’re not the ones who are even legitimately there. Restrepo also shows the emotional side of battle, and helps the viewer understand the emotional damage the soldiers suffer from being in this place. To see the soldiers go through the titular soldier, Doc Restrepo, being killed, is nearly unbearable. The film is hard to watch, stressful, traumatic, and one of the best films to show what it’s really like to be a soldier. I wasn’t a huge fan of how it was filmed, or some of the directorial/editorial choices the film made, but that can be passed up, as this is certainly an important film. And I would definitely recommend watching it. One of the best films about the war in Afghanistan.
Man of La Mancha (1972)
Man of La Mancha
★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Starring Peter O’Toole as Don Quixote/Miguel de Cervantes
James Coco as Sancho/Manservant
Sophia Loren as Dulcinea
Poet and actor, Miguel de Cervantes is thrown in a jail by members of the holy Spanish Inquisition. The others in the jail begin to take his belongings, and put him to a trial, allowing him to defend himself in the only way he knows how. With a play. Cervantes acts out the story of a crazy old man who believes that he is a knight named Don Quixote.
I saw this on stage a few weeks ago, and it instantly became one of my top three musicals of all time. Everything about Man of La Mancha on stage was wonderful, the music, the acting, the writing. It all was just so perfect. So I rushed out to get the film version to see how it was done on the screen. And I have to say, I’m both content and disappointed by this film. Man of La Mancha, in all respects, is genuinely good film making. The camera work was beautiful looking, and full of long takes that make it feel seamless. The camerawork did some things that many other films didn’t pick up on for years. Then there’s the editing, which was something really special. The editing had so much energy, and every transition between prison and Don Quixote was creative. Arthur Hiller’s direction was really good for the most part, and helps so much to build the atmosphere of the world of this Spanish knight. The screenplay, written by Dale Wasserman, who also wrote the book for the stage musical, was of course brilliant. Full of wit and satire, it makes you laugh, makes you think, and really makes you want to go read the original Don Quixote by Cervantes. Peter O’Toole is of course an excellent actor, and he makes his mark here (whenever he’s not singing, but I’ll get to that in a minute) as he nails every aspect of the mad knight. He was so fun to watch in this role, and it shows he is truly a master at his craft. So, if all this put together has me so glowing with enthusiasm for the film, why is it not a perfect score from me? Well, because of one fatal flaw. Not a single person they cast could sing. No one. Somehow, in a musical film, they managed to overlook casting a single singer in a role. No one could hit any pitches right, no one had a pleasant tone to their voice. It was grating to listen to some of the most beautiful music ever written be butchered like this. I kept wanting to love the film, and I always did, up until there was a musical number. Man of La Mancha really is a good film, but is it a good movie musical? No. No it’s not. If you want to see good movie making, and don’t mind bad singers, give it a watch. If you’re someone who hates hearing someone murder really good music, then skip over it. Go see it on a stage somewhere instead. But no matter what, find someway to experience Man of La Mancha.
Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? (2013)
Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 out of 5
Directed by Michel Gondry
Starring Noam Chomsky as himself
An animated conversation with philosopher and activist, Noam Chomsky.
In 2010, French filmmaker Michel Gondry had a conversation with famed philosopher Noam Chomsky, and decided to animate it. This is the product. And man oh man, it is more wonderful than I had ever hoped for. I was intrigued by the premise when I first saw the trailer, and knew I definitely wanted to see it. As someone who has been wanting to get more into philosophy, this looked like something I would love. However, this film is not all about the philosophies of Noam Chomsky, but it’s more about his life, and how his philosophies have guided him through it. It is an amazing conversation that Chomsky and Gondry had, and it revealed so much about his life, and really just about everything. The two incredibly intelligent men cover so many topics it’s incredible. And Chomsky is obviously so intelligent, it’s really amazing just to hear him speak. Gondry couldn’t really keep up with him sometimes, but then also Chomsky couldn’t understand Gondry sometimes. Which is really my only complaint about the film, it’s so hard to understand anything that Gondry says. He has such a thick French accent. He does write his words out for you to be able to understand though, but it’s often just as hard to understand that, as it’s not the neatest printing in the world. The animation is very rough, but it’s so unique and something quite incredible. It’s a look inside the mind of both parts of the conversation really, as we hear Chomsky’s words, and we see Gondry’s interpretation of it. This film is something quite incredible. I can’t recommend it enough. So happy I finally got to see this.
Dirty Wars (2013)
Dirty Wars
★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5
Directed by Rick Rowley
An investigative journalist, Jeremy Scahill, discovers American military corruption when he uncovers expanding covert operations in the war on terror.
One of last years Oscar documentaries, and in my opinion one of the better nominees that I’ve seen so far. This movie takes us on a journey with a war reporter who uncovers political corruption and secret raids going on in middle eastern countries. The American army seems to be sending troops in to civilian villages, and attacking for no real good reason. Killing innocents. This journalist puts himself in all kinds of dangerous situations trying to uncover this military corruption. It’s an incredible story, and a film that makes you really think about our politicians, and if they’re doing what’s right. Add on to this the fact that it’s really well shot and edited. It makes for a pretty damn good documentary. The coloring of the film was dark and bleak, giving a sense of almost hopelessness. It was awesome looking, and really suited the overall tone of the film. The narration was for the most part, really well written, with a few ridiculously cheesy and pretentious moments, but for the most part it was really good narration. Like I said though, there were cheesy/pretentious moments, and the narration at the end made me laugh out loud. And not for a good reason. It was really cheesy narration. But overall, this is a very good documentary, and a very informative one. I definitely would recommend giving it a watch.
Night and Fog (1955)
Night and Fog
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5
Directed by Alain Resnais
A combination of archive footage and new video, showing us the horrors of concentration camps.
This is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, and one I’m not too sure I ever want to see again. I hardly ever say that too. Many disturbing or depressing movies that I’ve found to be masterpieces, I’ve watched multiple times. But Night and Fog takes us to a new level of disturbing and depressing, and it is all truth. Every second of film in this actually happened. Which is the most disturbing part of the film. The decapitated heads in piles, the bodies being placed in pyres. All of it actually happened. And it makes you sick. I know that I felt like throwing up at multiple times during this film just because of how disgusting and brutal the human race can be. It really makes you feel like no other holocaust film does. I mean yeah, Schindler’s List or Life is Beautiful can move you to tears. But neither of them can make you feel physically ill because of what you’ve just witnessed. Night and Fog accomplishes that. It also proves to be the most information packed documentary I have ever seen, and it’s also only 30 minutes long. I learned more about the holocaust watching this 30 minute documentary than I did in the two months I studied the holocaust in history class. Really, I don’t know what more to say than, this is a brutally amazing film. It is not for the weak stomached though, as it is most certainly one of the hardest films to watch. But it just goes to show how hard reality can be to handle. One of the best documentaries ever made.
Triumph of the Will (1935)
Triumph of the Will
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5
Directed by Leni Riefenstahl
A documentary depicting the events of a 1934 Nazi party rally in Nuremberg.
This is one of the most evil, morally corrupt, and terrifying films ever made. It’s basically a huge propaganda film for the Nazis, showing how the German people loved Hitler, and how thousands upon thousands showed up for a rally to watch him speak. They stood in huge crowds all day just to watch him talk. This all being before shit hit the fan makes it incredibly terrifying to watch. It’s an incredibly important historical film because it truly gives you a sense of what was going on in Germany. It also is one of the most artistically important films ever made. It raises some huge ethical questions as to whether or not art can be appreciated even when it’s existence is evil. Even though I found this film to be astoundingly made, each shot was brilliant, the editing was amazing, the pure scope of the documentary is fantastic. I found myself questioning if I should say this is a great film or not. If it were not made by Nazis, about Nazis, to influence people to become Nazis, it would be easy to come to the conclusion that it’s a great film. However, since it was a Nazi propaganda film, it feels hard to admit that it is a great piece of art. You could even say that this is a film that over 60 million people died in the making of. However, I finally brought myself to the conclusion that it is art, and art can be great no matter how evil it is. Triumph of the Will is definitely a great film. It is also an incredibly influential one, you can even see how it inspired George Lucas in Star Wars. A lot of the Imperial scenes with Darth Vader are visually inspired by the rallies in Triumph of the Will. So really, as much as I hate to admit it, this is an amazing piece of art. It’s influential, historically important, frightening, and in general one of the best documentaries ever made. If you want to learn something about Hitler’s rise to power, definitely watch this film.
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Bowling for Columbine
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5
Directed by Michael Moore
Filmmaker Michael Moore searches for the reasons about why America has the most gun violence in the world.
I know that people generally have a dislike for Michael Moore, they don’t like how manipulative he is with his information, they don’t like how radical he is in his politics. People just do not seem to like him. However, you have to admit, that whether you like Michael Moore or not, or you hate his style of leaving out crucial information that would detract from his argument, you have to admit, Bowling for Columbine is a masterpiece. This is a documentary that is for one, incredibly fun to watch. It becomes more accessible to the masses because it has a sense of humor while tackling very serious issues. It works so well, and it also functions to point out the ridiculousness of the nature of this issue. How ridiculous is it that everyone buys guns out of fear of being shot, and out of fear shoot people? It’s a vicious circle. Michael Moore is also just a generally very funny guy, and he’s fun to watch on screen. Next, the issues it presents are very relevant and need to be discussed. There are some docs that feel kind of useless. They don’t really feel like the issue they present needs to be made into a film. Bowling for Columbine needed to be made. The issue of gun control in America is something that needs to be discussed. And it’s amazing to see that so many people saw this film and actually did something about it. Or even Michael Moore and the students from Columbine did something major about it. They got K Mart to stop selling bullets. It’s incredible in a documentary when the film maker doesn’t just discuss change, or discuss why something is bad. But they actually do something about it. I respect Michael Moore for that. He actually stood up and did something, and his film made people really think about this problem. Really, overall it might be the best documentary I have ever seen. No, it is the best documentary I have ever seen. It’s fun to watch, makes you laugh, makes you cry, and it makes you really think. It’s a film that is about something, and it takes a stand. I think that it’s amazing for that.
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