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documentary

Destricted * various directors * 2006

“Destricted” consists of seven short films that supposedly hold the middle between arthouse and pornography. This description may be applied to two or three of the films, but not to the rest. I had noticed the film at the rental, but put it back every time until the last. The box has some nice images, the idea could interesting, something different from those boring ‘right-on’ films, but would it really work? Well, there is a film about a man with a machine fetish, which is interesting from a cinematographic viewpoint. Also there is very fast compilation of images accompanied with fast drumming music. A weird pulsating film with very busy filming and montage that shows a man’s weird sexual preference and now and then a very nice girl. All alright, but nothing too interesting. Worse than that are downright pornos or a simple film of a man masturbating in the desert. Actually there is only one film that I found interesting both as a film and for the content. It is called “Balkan Erotic Epic” (by Marina Abramovic) which is presented as some sort of documentary about some very strange Baltic erotic folklore habbits (no idea if they are factual). The film has very bright colours, nice settings and a lot of humour. Another documentary contains interviews with young men who grew up with pornography (because their parents posess films or because they started watching the films with friends at an early age) and in the end, one is picked out to choose an actress to do something with which he wanted to try. Perhaps this one is interesting for sociologists and it shows a few things around the whole subject, but like almost any other of the films, it is just of a minor level and not too good a watch. Not knowing what to expect, the project still disappointed me. I don’t know for what audience the film is, since some films are too explicit for an arthouse audience and most others are not straight forward’ enough for people who enjoy the other genre. I will leave it to you if you are interested enough to go and see it. With seven very different films, there could also for you be one that is enjoyable.
-2-

An Inconvenient Thruth * Davis Guggenheim * 2006

An Inconvenient ThruthI probably would not have seen this documentary yet, should my girlfriend not have received it as a december surprise of her employer. I suppose you all know about this Al Gore film which tells about global warming, so let me stick to my conclusions. “An Inconvenient Thruth” is a report of one of the many lectures that Gore gave on the subject. Most of the time you see Gore talking, while I expected to be flooded with footage of disasters. Of course these are there, but Gore decided to get his message across another way. The fact that the film is mostly a lecture on DVD makes it rather dull. Put between, are quite superfluous scenes with personal pieces of Al Gore which are even more boring. The strength of the documentary is not as much the way it is put together, but Gore’s story. He gives a staggering amount of information, comparisons, investigations, facts and numbers; much of it I had seen in one form or another, some I had not. Gore picks in to the easy responds of sceptics and brings an “inconveniently” strong story. Also he shows some sollutions and tells us that they are not only within the possibilities of today, but also within current interest (being: economic growth). This perhaps is all nothing new for us ‘common men’ (who also get a few tips), but fortunately this film gets so much attention that finally the subject gets put on ‘big’ agendas. Whether you agree with Gore’s theories or not (but see the film before you pass your judgement), he sure can be praised for that.
-2.5-

Death Of A President * Gabriel Range * 2006

In this fake documentary a report is given of the assassination president George W. Bush on October 19 2007. The film is made with real images (there are no actors who play Bush or Cheney) and played interviews and footage. The big issues of Al Quada, human rights, immigration, disgruntled veterans, the hatred towards Bush and his policies, militant anarchist groups, etc. aren’t shunned which supposedly makes this film “the most controversial film of the year”. Well, if the incident would have been real, this would have been a CNN (or so) documentary, but now it is all about what could be. I haven’t decided if the subject should be regarded as being political or if this fake documentary is able of making its point, but if an American documentary about a subject like this would have turned out like “Death Of A President” I would have found it to be surprisingly balanced. As project the film is well done, because the whole film I have been trying to find out if Bush was Bush or an actor and now that I know that there was no actor (judging IMDb.com), I must say that things are put together very well. Not really a film, not really a documentary, but maybe it is some kind of documentary about how things are in the USA right now and how they could become if a thing like this happened.
-3-

Pretpark Nederland / A Funfair Behind The Dikes * Michiel van Erp * 2006

A documentary about what Dutchmen do in their free time. A women’s days out, Gay Pride Amsterdam, shopping, Prinsegracht concert, Elf Fantasy Fair, Efteling amusement park, etc. The film is presented as a hilarious and charming look on the Dutch, but besides a few ‘typicallities’ and amusing moments, I find this documentary not very groundbreaking or even very typical. What adds to this, is that the documentary is often ‘behind the scenes’. You don’t get to see people visiting the Efteling, but the creation of a new attraction; not much people going to a mall with thousands of others on holidays, but a man trying to promote his small town and its middle class. Amusing, but the idea could have been worked out better in my opinion. The documentary has English subtitles, so also non-Dutch-speaking viewers can laugh about us. I don’t know if there is another version than region 2 though.

Powaqqatsi * Godrey Reggio * 1988

Second part in the Qatsi trilogy of which the third part “Naqoyqatsi” now plays in the Dutch cinemas. This time it is “life in transformation” and five years after the first part Reggio serves us with cultural images. Working people, people in the far east, temples, etc. A bit more of the same, but still different. Less tranquil music, but also less images of nature and I actually like the first half of “Koyaanisqatsi” best these images. Again a nice film, but one you should watch and read a book at the same time.

The third part is about ‘life in war’ by the way.

Koyaanisqatsi * Godfrey Reggio * 1983

“Koyaanisqatsi” has recently been released as 2DVD with the second part of the trilogy “Powaqqatsi”. It has been a long time since I saw this ‘film’. As you probably know it is not really a film, but more like a compilation of images going together with music by Philip Glass. “Koyaanisqatsi” is Hopi for “life out of balance” and the film shows how crazy our society is. It begins with beautiful images of nature and explosions either slowed-down or speeded up. Lateron you get industrial images and to the end people and a city. Almost all images are slowed down or speeded up, giving this documentary a very nice atmosphere. Not that I can watch this for the full 1,5 hours, but this is the kind of film you can watch and read a book at the same time.

Im Toten Winkel * André Heller + Othmar Schmiderer * 2002

Not really a film, but a documentary, at least, that is how this film is presented. Actually this is not really a documentary in the normal sense of the word either. “Im Toten Winkel” is an interview with Traudl Junge (or Gertraud Junge) “Hitlers sekretärin”. Well, this isn’t 100% true either. In fact this documentary is a compilation of three interviews with Junge. One of two shot years ago and later Junge got to see the images again and sometimes has extra comments.

Anyway, the fact being that Junge was one of Hitler’s four secretaries is an interesting starting point. Junge speaks about Hitler’s personality in great detail and how she and those close to Hitler experienced the period between WWI and Hitler’s suicide. Not really a pleasure to watch, but highly informative. I saw this film without subtitles which was quite hard at times. Also I don’t know if this film is for sale or just for TV-stations. But if you are interested in a more in-depth view of the man Adolf Hitler and you get the chance to see “Im Toten Winkel”, don’t hesitate.

This documentary/interview was the basis of the popular film Der Untergang.

Devotion and Defiance * 2004

Countless times I had planned to go to savetibet.org and order something to at least to something for the suppressed people of Tibet, how little it is. We tend to forget. It has been so long ago since the Chinese decided to occupy Tibet and violently entered the country on the rooftop of the world. Monastries were destroyed, monks and nuns beaten or worse. China sent her own inhabitents to Tibet to force their culture on the Tibetan people and recently they even glamourously opened a railway connection from China to Tibet in the hope that more people (Chinese or tourists) will invade the country. For economic reasons, the West doesn’t do a thing. China is too much of an interesting partner to point towards the injustice they commit in their neighbouring country. Worse even, Westerners think it is hip to go on a ‘spiritual journey’ to the city of Lhasa or visit one of the monastries (under Chinese command). Exactly what the Chinese want! In any case, for a long time, the “international campaign for Tibet” try to bring the subject under attention. With success I might add, since many people buy their Tibetan flags and DVDs and so did I. I hope the money is well-spent, but I think a Western “no” to China would be much more helpfull than some money.
“Devotion and Defiance” is a 35-minute documentary that may not bring much news. You will see about the invasion of China, the suppressed Tibetans, the ups and downs of the people, a bit about the monastries. I may have seen this documentary, or one much like it, on TV already, but that doesn’t mind. It is only $ 6,-, undoubtely by far not enough to make a stand, but still, if everyone buys something from this organisation, something might happen some day.

Brabant 900 * 2006

1106 to 2006, 900 years of Brabant. That is to say, 900 years ago the duchy of Brabant was ‘founded’. Meanwhile a lot has happened as regular visitor of these pages may know. What used to be the duchy of Brabant, is now divided over Belgium and the Netherlands. I like the idea of the ‘greater Brabant’ and somehow feel more connected to the Belgian Brabantians than to the Dutch living ‘above the great rivers’. The Dutch provincial broadcasting company has made two series about the history of greater Brabant and the first is available on DVD. 10 Episodes of 25 minutes about “Bourgondian Brabant”, “Romish Brabant”, the farmer culture, nature, the language, etc. Not too much about the Belgian part of Brabant though and also the historian who speaks in the episodes is often over-critical towards concepts that we Brabanders are proud of. But, the series do give a nice idea of the history, there are nice old films, photos, etc. to be seen and heard and of course there is always something nice to learn.

Bowling For Columbine * Michael Moore * 2002

I had wanted this documentary since it came out (that long ago?), but apparently not enough to see it before it came on TV… Of course you all know about this documentary. Moore wanted to make a critical documentary showing why the USA have such a high number of killings caused by weapons. He hung the documentary on the Columbine Highschool shootout where the killers played a few rounds of bowling before their gruesome act. Also the killing of a six-year-old girl by a boy of the same age is dealt with at length. Moore wondered why in the USA so many people get killed while other countries such as the UK or Germany have an equally violent past (which is one argument in the USA) and a country like Canada which has just as many guns in comparison to the number of inhabitents (which is a big point for the anti-guns campaign). Moore’s conclusion is that it is the government and the media who (try to) keep people scared. Indeed, the one-sidedness of American news is horrid, but Moore goes a bit in the same direction. Whereas in the USA most media are very right/conservative, Moore tends to be a little bit too leftish in his vision and he shows this a bit too clearly at times. Still I think this documentary surely had to make American citizens think about things and maybe things may change a bit some times. As for us Europeans, we get an idea of the States that we already had, but too far driven through and not completely accurate in my opinion. This documentary is -I think- meant for the American market.
Filmographically then: a nice documentary with some rather sick / over the top films, some humour (like from South Park) and a few things that you even wouldn’t see or hear on the news here. Good to see some time, but I think when somebody made something similar about our own countries, it would possibly be (almost) just as shocking. Another point is that Moore, almost by himself, brought back the genre of documentaries back to the cinemas, which is something to respect as well.