The Corporation

The problem with some informative or social documentaries is that the knowledge they disperse can grow stale with time, making their relevance lessen as time marches on.  However, in the case of The Corporation, the flipping over of the calendar has done nothing but prove a timeless nature to its existence.  This documentary focuses around the history and being that is a corporation, and attempts to give the public a different perspective on this financial creature, giving ominous warning of what they could be and do.

With the economic crisis of 2008, The Corporation’s lessons reveal the truth to their message; that businesses can be out to make money and think about the short term results in the process.  As with many documentaries, there is a bias to this one as it has a definitive message that it is attempting to convey.  However, watching it gives one the feeling as though both sides of the story have their opportunity to speak openly and truthfully.  It is this ability that packs the true power as it delivers the honest, straightforward views reinforces the film’s premise.

If you are like me and have ever pondered as to just how stores can afford to sell brand new t-shirts for five dollars, or how dollar stores are able to stock their shelves with cheap merchandise, The Corporation shows there is good reason to ask those questions.  The hope is that those who have never considered anything other than the magnificent savings they get may begin to think more after seeing the documentary.

One of the techniques in the film is comparing a corporation to a human being (since corporations can legally be considered human) and putting it through a psychological test to see what kind of mental state it would have based off of how they operate.  By going through a checklist, they illustrate that a corporation is similar to a psychopath.  This process may not be following the most scientific of methods, but the image is the intriguing aspect.  It allows a symbolic reference that is a unique perspective and opens the door for conversation and thought on the topic to veer in new directions.

The narration may sound bland and distant, but I believe that it fits with the content of the documentary.  It is almost a lifeless voice that guides the viewer, an emotionless guide in a topic that revolves around the very questions of morals and base human feelings.  This experience is truly one that walks the line of the edge of what makes us human as well as what relates to the ‘human’ corporation.

I know some people who have an issue with the run time of the documentary, which clocks in at two hours and twenty five minutes.  Personally, I always enjoy the freedom from oppression of a lengthy film, but I also believe that if there is a story to be told it should not cut corners for the sake of being friendly on the arse and bladder of the audience.  Time means nothing if there is flow, focus, and proper intention.  Similar to 2013’s The Act of Killing (two hours and forty minutes), the weight of the content is enough to forget the passage of time.

Some documentaries aim to be informative and some to offer perspective, among a number of other goals they may have.  The Corporation strives, and succeeds, in both enlightening the audience as well as opening the mind to think about the global market place from alternative angles.  It does not seek to demonize the people at the top, and even makes a case for remembering to separate the individuals from the actions.  The culmination is an engaging film that does not answer all the question one may have, but opens the door for contemplation and further thought and investigation.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

The Square

While some documentaries are constructed to prove a point, sell an ethic, or construct a moral argument, The Square provides a window into the street level perspective of a revolution as it follows the protests in Tahrir Square, Cairo, following the start of the Arab Spring in 2011.  While it does not attempt to provide a multi-sided story, it strives to show the desires, drive, and emotions of those who are dedicated to their cause in seeing true democracy in the country that they love so dearly. 

The movie follows a group of revolutionaries who are seeking to end the system of government in Egypt, and bring in one that is free from corruption and offers equal opportunities to all.  Not only are these people followed in the film, but they are also given cameras during different events to allow for many different perspectives on what transpires.  Director Jehane Noujaim started the project while it was in its early days, and followed it through up until the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi in July of 2013.  Noujaim had The Square edited and screening at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013, but headed back to Egypt to get footage of the ongoing protests.

What really adds weight to this film is that it feels like we start gaining an attachment to the documentary’s main principles, and so their struggle ultimately becomes a desire that we begin to feel ourselves.  We see their successes, learn of their mistakes, and see them celebrate as well as find them at moments where the trauma of the resistance they face has them at a point of almost quitting.  Our heart breaks for them, and the commitment they show becomes an inspiration as atrocities are unable to ultimately break their spirits, but eventually fuel them to continue on.  While a cause can run out of steam and emotion after a few weeks, we gain a perspective of people who will fight for years, the kind of individuals whose characters are capable of changing the world.

It is this glimpse that we get that really makes this film so special.  While it is one thing to follow a movement by keeping up on the news, we see through this story that there is a lot more than meets the eye.  There is so much to the narrative that it is impossible to truly get a sense for what is happening on ground level.  Each side does what it can to win public opinion and tell its story, and The Square allows a glimpse behind all of that to see the front line actions and the meetings behind the scenes.    We see the personal dilemmas that the participants put themselves in, and how quickly a movement that starts out pure and unified can begin to fracture as people start to desire outcomes that benefit them individually.

Allowing for all of this to be pulled off is the use of many cameras that are small enough and portable enough to get into all of the different situations without being so big that they gain the attention of the authorities.  There is a moment when there is a confrontation and the filming abruptly stops, and apparently it was a quick switch of memory cards that ensured that footage would make the film.  One can only imagine what the documentary would have been if the film makers never had any footage confiscated (there were times where they lost footage) but what they assembled was incredibly powerful.

What we can take away from this documentary is that when there is corruption, there is no cut and dry approach.  There is no easy solution, and there is no quick fix.  It shows the power of the people, that when citizens are willing to stand together bravely and be undeterred, governments and institutions cannot stand.  We learn that those who lead such movements are incredibly special people, committed to a dream and a vision, who are able to share that with others, and who have a true understanding of the sacrifice that is needed to achieve the goal.  The most powerful thing we learn is that change was not instituted by groomed leaders or people who were born with a silver spoon in hand, but that rising from the populace were ordinary people who had a belief in what was right.

Rating – 4 out of 4 stars

Blackfish

 For the last little while I have been quite lucky and grateful for the fact that stability reigns and that there is some normality coming back to my life.  Well, perhaps that is only the case half of the time, but when compared to how I was feeling a month ago, it is a huge step forward.  Yesterday I reviewed a documentary that did very little to help with my anxiety, as I had been deeply affected by The Act of Killing for the last two days.  Today I look at another documentary that is a strong bet for getting an Oscar nomination, one that has some disturbing elements but is nowhere near the black hole of emotions that The Act of Killing was.  That one I would never recommend to general audiences, and today's documentary is one that I sure would.

While I do enjoy a good documentary, I always feel that one of true quality is a rare creature to find, almost mythical in nature.  The white whale eludes me many times, as a lot of documentaries suffer from poor pacing where you get an emotional or intellectual punch during the first twenty minutes and then sit through filler while they build towards the next one.  Other issues that plague documentaries are ones such as pushed agendas, incredible biases, and the portrayal of only one side of the story.

Blackfish, the CNN documentary on the behind the scenes life of killer whales in captivity at Sea World, may miss the mark on showing all sides of the story, but having watched it I can tell that it is not for lack of trying.  The usual feel that I have after a slanted documentary is the desire to shower off mentally because I feel dirty on account of the verbal filth and manipulation of emotions that are thrown at me to drive home a point.  With Blackfish it is quite visible that we almost get a singular perspective that the manner, conditions, and overall captivity of killer whales is a negative thing, it never felt to me like pure manipulation.

It is a documentary that gains a lot of its content from facts and figures of true life events, and the tale is told mostly from the voices of people who have been trainers of killer whales and now feel like there are major issues with how these mammals are captured and treated.  The testimonies are extremely heartfelt and passionate, and do not come off in any kind of tone of propaganda, which helps to temper the one sided nature of this issue.  It also becomes clear at the end of the film that Sea World had their chance to be a part of the documentary and say their piece, but opted not to.

I often role my eyes a little whenever I hear a movie or documentary reviewed in one sensationalist word such as ‘shocking!’, but I am amazing myself to admit that such a description fits Blackfish near perfectly.  The curtain is slowly revealed to the audience on the lives of killer whales in captivity, it evenly unwinds its tale in a manner that makes the film evenly fascinating to watch from beginning to end, a true testament to the quality in which it was put together.  As the documentary progresses, we find out more and more disturbing information that at times had my mouth wide open in astonishment.  The magical beasts that I saw as a child at Sea World in Florida, jumping in joy for the excited crowds, are shown in their true states, prisoners who are robbed of what their lives should be, torn from their families, and forced into participation.

It offered a very emotional, intellectual, and entertaining format to deliver its message, and it did so about as remarkably as it could.  I will not pretend that I am now a crusader and that my entire life has been changed due to it, but that okay because is not the point of this film.  The point is to raise awareness, to pull the curtain back so we can see the true nature and inner workings of an industry that we would otherwise never give a second moment’s thought to.  I doubt I will ever be back in Orlando any time soon, but if I was I know that I would think twice about buying a ticket to see the killer whales perform.

Rating – 4 out of 4 stars

The Act of Killing

As I was watching The Act of Killing last night, I could not help but feel as though a part of my soul had changed and that I would never be the same again.  Not only that I would not be the same, but that I would never be complete.  It may sound like I am being overly tragic or that I am pulling on some clichés, but it is true.  Waking up this morning, I was not the same person who woke up yesterday, and I have doubts that tomorrow morning will be any different.

The Act of Killing is a documentary that focuses on former members of death squads in Indonesia who carried out mass murders in the mid-sixties.  The documentary meets up with them today and has them re-enact the atrocities for the camera by using different Hollywood genres that they grew up with, such as westerns and film noir.  It is rather fitting, because the main person they follow, Anwar Congo worked selling black market tickets in front of a theatre before his switch in professions to killer for hire.

Why would something like this be done?  How did someone ever come up with the idea and why is it even a good one?  The director, Joshua Oppenheimer, appears to take this approach because things like mass murder and genocide are concepts that we seem to know little about or ponder on in glorified cinematic ways.  Perhaps putting this spin on it is to juxtapose the common approaches to such things with the mindboggling reality of it.  But who knows just why this came about.  I am not sure that I want that question answered.  Far too often is it that a documentary leaves so much interpretation up to the audience, and I would hate to have that ruined for me.  That having been said, I will never ever watch this documentary again, not even if I was paid to.

The cause of the torment that I underwent while watching it (and for hours afterwards, and even now as I am forced to revisit it for the purposes of this review) is hearing different people talk about the horrific events.  It is partly the content that they discuss, but even more disturbing is the manner in which they talk about it.  To hear people lightheartedly talking about walking down the street and stabbing every single Chinese person they meet is beyond awful.  To hear them chuckle as they mention that their girlfriend’s father was Chinese and the way that they killed him is enough to destroy your being.  The relaxed look on their faces, the fond memories, that is what annihilated me.

But, that is why this film is important.  It is seeing them and hearing their thoughts and memories that sheds the much needed light on the worldwide conversation of genocide.  There are a number of different people who we hear from in this documentary.  There are some who are in positions of power based off of the work of the ‘gangsters’ (the people who are the unofficial strong arm of the government, romanticized by leaders as being described as freemen in a dictatorship as a way to gain support and recruit more into their ranks) who seem to be with no conscience of the actions, never losing a night’s sleep, justifying and defending the actions.  There is someone who seems to be profoundly philosophical now because of toiling over the memories of what happened.  We see many different people who react to it differently and remember their own version of history.

The film shows a small portion of a propaganda film that was used to brainwash people into killing communists, and we hear the subjects of the documentary discuss it.  One admits full well that it is indeed propaganda, that it was a tool to influence their minds and that because of that they became the real villains.  We also get an account of it from the standpoint of unwavering loyalty which brings out the scary reality of the power of media, showing that it was able to reassure people that all of the murdering was for a noble cause.

Most of what we know of violence and darkness if from what we see in cinema and on TV.  In The Act of Killing we have an almost absurd use of the Hollywood formats to pull the gloss and shine off of these lucrative elements of the movie industry and see the empty coldness that really exists in them.  We never see any footage of the brutal acts, but that is not needed.  Simply hearing about it and voyaging through the recreations are strong enough, and more powerful than anything that could be developed on a Hollywood sound stage.

Right now I am wondering how something like this is to be reviewed?  How do you process something that is so horrible and so real?  Perhaps that conundrum is the point of this documentary.  I have seen some powerful and moving documentaries and movies before, but The Act of Killing makes Schindler’s List look like a Pixar film as this is one serious slog through the darkest elements of humanity.  It left me a complete wreck, nauseous and in a state of shock for the whole night that I was unable to shake no matter what I tried.  It is odd… even in the nastiness of the reality, you see the humanity of the killers, and that is the most disturbing thing.  People like you and I who ended up being in these situations.

Human nature is the worst, because, by definition, it is something that lives within us all – something that binds us all together in the various ways we are similar and what we are all capable of doing under different circumstances.  The people who were involved in the killings were all different, with various reasons for what lead them to such things.  These years later, some have come to realize that what they did was wrong, others needed to see it through the process of this documentary to come to that place, and still others seem like it was the morally correct process.  If people who are of so many different values and mindsets could all commit the same atrocities, is it too hard to believe that you or I in their situation would be invincible against carrying out the same actions?

Rating – 4 out of 4 stars

The Art of Flight

Today marked a time of much running around and preparation for an upcoming move, all of which created a very long day with many a dose of fun anxiety.  The original plan was to watch a very deep and thought provoking moving this evening, but after realizing the effects of ‘lazy brain’ that I was suffering, it seemed a better choice to watch something that was a little easier to ponder.  What I ended up viewing is a documentary called The Art of Flight which follows snowboarder Travis Rice as he travels and experiences many different alpine locales.

What stands out first and foremost in this movie is the beauty that is captured, as the visuals of the mountain and scenery are able to create a true sense of awe in the viewer.  There have been many films I have seen that have a hard time capturing the sense of height and slope, but the cinematography in The Art of Flight gives a very honest feel of the majesty and grandeur of the mountains.  Not only is the physical environment captured well, but the scenes of snowboarding are fast, exciting, and create a sensation of the limits being pushed by the riders.

However, it is not all great and grand.  As amazing as the visuals are, and as exhilarating as the snowboarding is, it begins to get fairly repetitive.  They do attempt to change things up quite often through the film, but there really is only so many times you can see someone go off a jump before you are no longer entranced by the act.  Seeing it over and over again makes it exist in a realm of common place, and thus it is no longer as interesting as it was the first ten times you saw it.  This can be an enormous fault of many sports videos, as they most often are comprised of one amped up montage after another.  I could really go for a Red Bull right now.

Oh, and I should mention that.  You will see Red Bull everywhere you look in this movie because they sponsored it, and they are not subtle about that fact.

What makes a great sports documentary stand out from the others is to allow the audience to gain an understanding of the event, and the drive and desires that course through the bodies of those who are obsessed with it.  Only from time to time does The Art of Flight take a chance to hear the reflections of the participants, and this causes it to miss out on I find makes this sort of film extraordinary.  When I gain a true sense of the passion, and hear the personal impact that snowboarding has on people, that is when it is the most interesting.  It allows the door to be opened to both the beauty of the visuals, but also to an understanding of what is a spiritual affair for some.

 

It also had an opportunity to frame snowboarders in a more mature and contemplative light, which it did pull off at times as we got a few glimpses behind the bravado.  Unfortunately it also reinforced any and all stereotypes of the perpetually adolescent male when we get scenes of bored snowboarders shooting down pine trees with shotguns and shooting at objects that explode.  The reason why this is a shame is because the quality of this film created a chance to reach an audience beyond just the snowboarding community and it was a chance to show the world that there is more to their image than what most people’s minds quickly conjure up.

Beautiful, yes, it really is a beautifully shot film.  Insightful?  At a moment, here or there it is and allows the audience to get an understanding of the passion of the snowboarder.  While it is a whole lot of eye candy, it is not able to stay consistently fresh and misses out on many opportunities to connect with the audience.  I would recommend this film for the visuals and for some of the snowboarding scenes, but it is hard to recommend the whole package.

Rating – 2 out of 4 stars