Grizzly Man

Grizzly Man (Werner Herzog, 2005)

A devastating and heartrending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska.

Crumb

Crumb (Terry Zwigoff, 1994)

An intimate portrait of the controversial cartoonist and his traumatized family.

Back in my CEGEP years (equivalent of College) I had access to a huge library of comic books. Sometimes I would read comics that I never heard of or read about. When I got into Robert Crumb’s it was a revelation and a schock to me. His irreverent humor, social satire, and explicit sexual material (believe me for a seventeen year old it was something) left a permanent mark in my memory.

Les maîtres fous (The Mad Masters)

Note : This review is my contribution to the Shorts! blogathon hosted by Movies Silently from May 2nd to the 4th of 2015. Please visit the links and enjoy the readings of the other great writers participating.

Les maîtres fous (The Mad Masters) (Jean Rouch, 1955)

The effects of colonialism are exposed in this film on indigenous Africans via specific rituals developed as a reaction to the colonial system. The film turns into a crazy elaboration on both the madness of such a political system and man himself.

Banned in Niger and British territories like Ghana, Jean Rouch’s Les maîtres fous is a docufiction about ethnology and colonialism. Rouch was himself a well known ethnologist and developed the genre ethnofiction. At the time when Rouch directed and presented his film nations were about to get free from their masters. Movements of nationalism and liberation were budding all over the world. In 1958, Niger for example gained its Independence.

Les maîtres fous presents the sect of the Haukas that initiates its participants with possessions and representations of the behaviors of their masters. In a way they try to emulate the actions of their oppressors and simulate and expiate their sufferings. As they do this afterwards the Haukas are shown working with big smiles and happiness despite the poor condition of hard work.

Another explanation of this tradition is an African interpretation of the rituals as it is a way to take their rivals power and eat it. For non-African people this interpretation seems difficult to understand but many rituals executed in Africa are old of hundreds, if not, thousands of years and are anchored deep into the collective mind of these people.

Jean Rouch with his docufiction seems to be exploiting a sensationalist behavior that gives a racist vision of colonialism. Well, let’s face it, colonialism was the act of Imperialist nations wanting to spread their culture and conquer the world with ideas, language, religion. It was also a way to get resources at almost no price with cheap labor. Sure racism has many masks but colonialism was one of them. Discarding the locals’ culture and imposing your own can’t be good for your politics and men.

But Rouch wants to show the reaction of the locals after many years of colonialism in their home land. No surprise the film was banned; it depicted without any filter the direct effects of nations on the verge of their independence living under the leaders of imperialist nations and making benefits on the hard work and land of their locals.

As a film of 36 minutes, Les maîtres fous was less disturbing that I thought it would be. It is straight to the point and narrated by Rouch himself. What’s interesting with documentaries, in this case a sixty years old one, is that it is a document depicting a slice of history very specific to a part of the world where few documents are available since history was more an oral tradition than our academic interpretation of the discipline. It is important that such short films and documentaries are preserved for generations to come to understand the past and the variety of ethnicity.

Room 237

Room 237 (Rodney Ascher, 2012)

An exploration of various interpretations of Stanley Kubrick's horror film, The Shining (1980).

Dedicated to the many possible meanings of Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece The Shining, Room 237 is narrated by many fans, enthusiasts of the film and its director. At first, the most important fact about Room 237 is that it demonstrates how much people actually love and cherish this movie. Even I can’t hide my enthusiasm and cult towards The Shining. It is my favorite film from my favorite director of all time and each new viewing is an experience that is almost religious for the atheist that I am.

With this documentary I realized first that I am not the only one to vow such a cult to this movie, and that many people are interepreting films and analyzing so many elements that the movie itself gets forgotten. Sure, Kubrick was one heck of a wizard with his obsessive control over his films and perfectionism of every detail. When interpreting a movie, every theorie is as worth as the other. It is interesting to discover some of the most out of there and other more consensual visions of The Shining. It leads us to many things to think about : much like an artist less we know about the original meanings of its creator there is more to discover; it is impossible to have only one reading of a dense work of art; is the Calumet can there on purpose or not, is it true that Kubrick directed the landing on the moon, do we tend to give too much credit to Kubrick and his films and should watch them for their first level of reading.

Well, as aforementioned, every theory is as worth as the other and when a movie is celebratred by critics and the public it is recognized as worthy. But suppose that Citizen Kane was never revisited and completely forgotten maybe it wouldn’t be the masterpiece we know today just because it was at first hated and almost destroyed by the industry. Let’s think about this, for Kubrick’s The Shining its initial released was received with mixed reviews, except the fact that Kubrick was already established as a cult director, it could have been the death of the value of it. However, time and revisits, many revisits, led the film to be recognized as technically, esthetically, and thematically important in the history of films and in Kubrick’s filmography.

It is a playful documentary that has the merit to making its viewer wanting to watch again its subject. However, the exercice seems to loose its breath near its end and it probably would need a book to accompany this film essay. By the way, I would buy such a book.

Pray For Me : The Jason Jessee Film

Pray For Me : The Jason Jessee Film (Steve Nemsick & David Rogerson, 2007)

Professionnal skateboarder Jason Jessee is profiled in this 80 minutes documentary that preceded his comeback to a skaboarding sponsorship by Santa Cruz skateboards.

Coming from a Mormon family of South California that liked motorcycles and guns, Jason Jessee became a peculiar character that few people have really understood. Considered by his friends and peers as a clown or a kook, Jessee has passed from 100 000$ earnings in a year skateboarding to a minimum wage job cleaning dishes.

The portrait of his family and childhood is nicely done but too much time is on the fact that he hides himself behind a mask of comedy and extreme behaviors such as Nazi imagery, terrorist slogans, and Jesus freak phrases. Clearly, this is a man that wanted to do things his own way and make people talk about him. Sadly, the documentary almost plays as a joke and only encourages his eccentric side without trying to really scratch the surface and peel off the layers of this obvious shell that Jessee has forged around him to protect him from being hurt.

Another side of Pray For Me that should be improved is the lack of footage of his skateboarding days and the few archives shown. I read on IMDb that the budget was around 100 000$ for the entire documentary and this is probably one of the reasons it was harder to get rights for the archives of his career. However, the whole film feels that the budget was limited and it is almost sad that it feels cheap. There’s one thing when the soundtrack is done with less money and features more underground artists, much like skateboarding videos in general, but when the writing of the screenplay lacks of formal structure and circles around an interesting topic without achieving a complete analysis.

Between two shots of Jessee kidding around in his garage and interviews of his peers and family, Pray For Me : The Jason Jessee Film leaves us with a vague impression of the man and many questions hold in the air regarding the subject of the film and its purpose. As a skateboarder myself I like to know the guy behind the name written on the decks I buy. The Jason Jessee boards are nice skateboards and his graphics have always been considered as popular amongst customers. Apart if you are a real fan of the man or a diehard rabid consumer of everything skateboard I would suggest a rental but as aforementioned, there’s not a lot to learn from this 80 minutes documentary.

Life Itself

Life Itself (Steve James, 2014)

Based on Roger Ebert’s memoirs, Life Itself, this documentary was directed by Steve James, who directed Ebert’s favorite film of the 1990’s Hoop Dreams, is a naked portrayal of the film critic, the man, and the life of the most popular film critic of all time.

Presented for the first time at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Life Itself was also available in streaming for those who helped raise the necessary funds to finish the production of this feature. Filming began in 2012 and continued until the death of Ebert to be completed a short time after to get interviews with his friends, his wife Chaz Ebert, and fellow film critics.

Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994)

Following the High School path of two young African-American Basketball prospects from the surroundings of Chicago we discover more than just their dedication to their sport.

Let It Ride

Let It Ride (Jacques Russo, 2006)

The story of the life of professional snowboarder Craig Kelly. His rise, his self recluse life from the spotlights and his tragic death in January 20th 2003.

Shoah

Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985)

This 1985 French documentary about the Holocaust has a tremendous lenght of more than nine hours long. Spanned on many years, its director Claude Lanzmann interviewed refugees, people of Poland, ex-Nazis, Jews, and many notable actors of the worst extermination of humans of the 20th Century. 

Koyaanisqatsi

Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982)

Life out of balance is the translation proposed by the film from the title of the first chapter of the Qatsi trilogy.The shooting of the images began in 1975 and from time to time and with the new funding from IRE, director Godfrey Reggio and cinematographer Ron Fricke assembled a ton load of film shot all around USA. This poetic visual documentary has only images and the mystical music by composer Philip Glass. The narrative is however very clear and the music juxtaposed to slow motion and time-lapsed (fast forward) photography makes a great deal of the wonders of nature, progress, and the mess made by mankind.

Histoire(s) du Cinéma

Histoire(s) du Cinéma (Jean-Luc Godard)

This unique series of documentaries on the history or histor(ies), is a play on the fact that there are more than one history to tell a fact or a manifestation that happened. Godard began his career as a film critic, then a film director, an auteur, a philosopher, a Maoist, and he easily got his degree in History only with his own attempt at summarizing some of the most important moments of film History. To him, the Cinema is the greatest of all Arts. And by using History of Art, classical poetry, stills from hundreds of films, and his mastery of editing, Godard demonstrates how Film became to get the control of the universe.

Le Sang des bêtes (Blood of the Beasts)

Le Sang des bêtes (Blood of the Beasts) (Georges Franju, 1949)

This short film directed by French filmmaker Georges Franju is one of the most beautifully shot black and white surrealist pictures while coldly explaining the slaughter of horses, cattle, and sheeps.

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography

Bones Brigade: An Autobiography (Stacy Peralta, 2012)

When six teenage boys came together as a skateboarding team in the 1980s, they reinvented not only their chosen sport but themselves too - as they evolved from insecure outsiders to the most influential athletes in the field.

STOKED : The Rise and Fall of Gator

STOKED : The Rise and Fall of Gator (Helen Stickler, 2002)

Following Dogtown and Z-Boys, this other documentary about the subculture of skateboarding reveals one of its darkest sides. The rise of Mark « Gator » Rogowsky as one of the most well paid Vert skater of his time; the 1980’s. And then, its fall into depression, huge egomaniacal, and inviction for rape and murder at the first degree.

Dogtown and Z-Boys

Dogtown and Z-Boys (Stacy Peralta, 2001)

Just as a bunch of The Beach Boys songs reminds us, California and surfing is the real thing. The History of skateboarding has everything to owe to surfing and its invention is in most part due to a derived product from the wave riding movement. In California a bunch of kids wanted to be the next champions of surfing but had to compensate for the lack of waves in their area with another standing sideways item. It was natural that they go to the four wheeled wood planks to fulfill their needs of sensations.

The Last Gladiators

The Last Gladiators (Alex Gibney, 2011)

In Ice Hockey no one is tougher than the "goon". Those players have one mission: to protect the star players at any price.

Recently, the fine folks at Phase 4 Films have provided me a review copy of this Documentary about Hockey player Chris “Knuckles” Nilan. An in depth observation of his career in professional Hockey as a “goon” but also in his life and how he now manages to live with the scars of his career of violent Hockey player. In thirteen years in the NHL, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers, and the Boston Bruins. He amassed more penalty minutes than any other player and fought over 300 fights. This resulted in thirty operations on his body. He is a physically broken man and the documentary brings the light on the fact that what he had to deal has hurt him in a very profound manner.

Directed by Academy Award Winner, Alex Gibney, this human portrait is presented in a very conventional way; with head shot interviews and a voice over. We have the commentaries of Nilan’s parents, his ex-wife, ex-teammates, childhood friends, and many other NHL enforcers. While the NHL puts the light on players like Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby, we tend to forget that players like Marty McSorley or Nilan were the guys who defended and protected the star players. Giving the mic and the spotlight to the “goons” isn’t what the sport has been selling. It is very interesting to discover how these key players in the success of a team had to deal with their post career.

Chris Nilan

Sadly, the point about concussions isn’t even addressed in the documentary, a plague that is making the sport look bad these days. It also brings up how the players are on their own and they must be advised to help them find a job when they retire. Most of these men don’t have much education and their lives have been about Hockey and about almost nothing else. It is difficult for them to get into the real world and live a decent life.

Despite the fact that The Last Gladiators is a very traditional documentary, the subject matter is still very actual. In 2010, three players of the NHL died and they were also goons. At 54 years old, Chris Nilan has fought from his childhood in the streets of Boston, he is still struggling very hard to get his head over the water and be a sober man and have a life with his new life partner. For every Hockey fan and even Sports Fan there is a lesson to learn because even if what the Leagues and Associations are selling, the players are all humans after all. I’ll paraphrase Nilan himself: they are all just men just like us.

Nilan with the Habs in the 1980's.

 Note: I was invited to interview Mr. Nilan in a press conference this month, but I had to decline the offer because I didn’t had the time to drive three hours back and forth. However, I’d like to personally thank Chris for his dedication and to have the courage to show his true personality on the camera.

Helvetica

Helvetica (Gary Hustwit, 2007)

A documentary about typography, graphic design, and global visual culture.

The first instalment of Gary Hustwit on design and the humanized world surrounding our contemporary urban lives is about typography and more specifically on the font Helvetica. Presented as it is it seems like a “geek” documentary about a very technical subject. Well, it is far from being bothering and the relevance of the subject is not put in your face but you quickly get it with all the brands and publicities presented that features the font and its many forms.

Without voiceovers and letting all the right time to the type designers to explain their points of view, we have the witness of those how were working at the time the font was designed. They are called modernists of the post-War period. It is interesting to get the many views on the evolution of the designs of types and how some “schools” or “waves” have evolved.

It is impressive to discover how just a simple choice of type can change our vision about something. It is interesting to observe how products, brands, advertising, and plain and simple consumption is now the center of our lives and how it is presented and sold to us is related to Helvetica. Recommended.

The Man Who Souled the World

The Man Who Souled the World (Mike Hill, 2008)

THE MAN WHO SOULED THE WORLD tells the story of Steve Rocco, the irreverent genius who transformed the skateboard industry from corporate to skater owned with a do-it-yourself punk attitude.

For those who are regulars on this film oriented blog you know how I like to digress to my other interests. And boy, do I have lots of interest: Cinema & Films, History, Snowboarding, Skateboarding, Graphic Novels, Music, Drums, etc.  Well, this review combines three of my main interests this summer. Mostly Skateboarding, History, and films more specifically documentaries. This very fun documentary narrated by Jackass’ very own Jason Acuna aka Wee Man. Brought me back to my high school days when I was skipping classes to go skate, until dawn and destroy shoes, decks, wheels, etc. Not being a big fan of documentaries, except when they treat about subjects I have in heart might be a flaw for this review but I think it is interesting to still review The Man Who Souled the World.

Centering on Steve Rocco a pro skater who decided to found his own skateboard company and get the actual money into his pockets and the skater’s instead of letting the big guys behind their desks who owned the companies back then. He founded World Industries and it became one of the bestselling brands of skateboards in the 1990’s. However, in the process Rocco didn’t only made money and friends. He attacked the other companies directly in the publicities and always kept a “fuck it all” “do it yourself” attitude towards the business. Using the mottos of Punk Rockers he built an empire by crossing every rules of his enemies.

World Industries' Logo

 The format of the documentary is pretty standard letting the people involved at the time getting full expressions and punning each other in response. Besides Rocco’s interviews one of the most supernatural skaters Rodney Mullen has a lot of air time. We also see Steve Berra, Jason Lee, Mike Carroll, and many other skating legends.

Rocco crossed so many lines that he had to create his own magazine to run his publicities and it was the genesis to Jackass. He also gave film director Spike Jonze first directing job to shot a skate video.

At the end we feel that the community of skate has respect and hate towards Rocco. He publicized and made a whole bunch of money because of the sport but also pissed so many of his friends in the same time. This is a very good documentary on the coming of a sport that was considered as counter culture but that is now available in shopping malls and skate shops are as frequent as clothes shops. This is a character that can be as interesting as Mark Zuckerberg who revolutionized another aspect of our 21^st century lives. Recommended.