Documentaries

[Rook]

A thread for sharing or discussing interesting documentary films that one has seen.
A brief or extended explanation of the piece would be congenial so that others may decide whether to watch it or not.

Political/Societal:

We steal secrets: The story of Wikileaks:
A documentation of the wikileaks system with focus on assange and manning.

Flag wars:
Interesting piece with relevance towards the issues of capitalist bureaucracy, race, gender and religion within the american empire.

My country, my country:
A look at baghdad preparing for general elections under occupation.

The oath:
Dealing with testimony of a former bodyguard of usama and the legal proceedings of salim hamdan

Citizenfour:
Watch this. A brilliant recording of the events surrounding edward snowden's leaks regarding global surveillance, with interesting discourse between poitras and snowden.

 

[onesteptwostep]

Could we add miniseries on this too? Miniseries are basically shows that are based on historical events, which could count as a documentary. If so.. HBO's Band of Brothers (2001) is good (wow I can't believe it's been 14 years since its making o_O), as well as The Pacific. They're about WWII, on the European front and the Pacific front respectively.

A straight up documentary which I thought was nice was:

Inside Job (2010) - a documentary on the 2008 global financial crisis, and,

No End in Sight (2007) - Basically a George W. Bush bashing film (about the Iraqi War) - it's insightful though.

Will take a look at Citizenfour and The Oath, looks interesting.

 

[TheManBeyond]

Cobain, Montage of Heck

even if you are not interested in nirvana or cobain i highly recommend it, gives you a cool personal view of a broken physque.

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

ANNA: FROM SIX TILL EIGHTEEN(1993):

Director Nikita Mikhalkov documents the history of Russia from 1980 to 1991 by annually asking his daughter Anna such questions as “What do you love the most?”, “What scares you the most?”, “What do you want above anything” and “What do you hate the most?”​

mubi review i like: "child alienation through ideology, emotional direction of the young according to the state agenda. how do you feel when you realize that your daughter is genuinely distraught by the death of the dictator and that she spies on you sniffing the slightest sign of political sabotage ?"​

HIGH SCHOOL(1968):

mubi review(not by me): "The mechanisms and institutions of childhood development all conspire to do what society does: to instill deference to authority, suspicion of dissent, intolerance of idiosyncrasy, and an attitude of uniform compliance to accepted norms with the instinct to segregate and deride anyone who deviates from them. Wiseman captures every aspect of this process merely by caring to observe it."​

GADAJACE GLOWY(1980): <this one's a personal fav

15 min long, People of all ages are filmed as they are asked when they were born, what they are, and what they would like the most; the film assembles their responses with straight cuts from youngest to oldest (one to a hundred)​

WINGED MIGRATION(2001):

Documentary on the migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.​

SANS SOLEIL(1983): another favorite

A complex journey into time and memory, Chris Marker’s mind-bending free-form travelogue roams from Africa to Japan, guided by associative editing and an unnamed narrator.​

LA SOUFRIÈRE(1977):

In 1976 volcanic scientists believed that the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe was to about to blow up with the explosive power of five or six atomic bombs. The entire town was evacuated, except one peasant who refused to leave. And of course our intrepid Herzog…​

THE HISTORY OF A BUTTERFLY: A ROMANCE OF INSECT LIFE(1910):

A 1910 British short black-and-white silent documentary film showing the life-cycle of the butterfly.​

TOUCHING THE VOID(2003):

The true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.​

THE EMPEROR'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON(1987):

In this landmark documentary, Kenzo Okuzaki, a veteran of Japan’s WWII campaign in New Guinea, painstakingly tracks down the former military officers responsible for the strange deaths of several of his fellow soldiers.​

mubi review(not by me): "like a real-life under the flag of the rising sun, and all the more shocking for that. sometimes okuzaki veered into megalomania, but you have to respect his tenacity. i loved how he would entertain the typical customs of japanese politeness, but eventually blow up when his subjects kept using it as a shield."​

 

[Rook]

You just decimated my free time zerkalo.

 

[Tannhauser]

ANNA: FROM SIX TILL EIGHTEEN(1993):

Director Nikita Mikhalkov documents the history of Russia from 1980 to 1991 by annually asking his daughter Anna such questions as “What do you love the most?”, “What scares you the most?”, “What do you want above anything” and “What do you hate the most?”​

mubi review i like: "child alienation through ideology, emotional direction of the young according to the state agenda. how do you feel when you realize that your daughter is genuinely distraught by the death of the dictator and that she spies on you sniffing the slightest sign of political sabotage ?"​

HIGH SCHOOL(1968):

mubi review(not by me): "The mechanisms and institutions of childhood development all conspire to do what society does: to instill deference to authority, suspicion of dissent, intolerance of idiosyncrasy, and an attitude of uniform compliance to accepted norms with the instinct to segregate and deride anyone who deviates from them. Wiseman captures every aspect of this process merely by caring to observe it."​

GADAJACE GLOWY(1980): <this one's a personal fav

15 min long, People of all ages are filmed as they are asked when they were born, what they are, and what they would like the most; the film assembles their responses with straight cuts from youngest to oldest (one to a hundred)​

WINGED MIGRATION(2001):

Documentary on the migratory patterns of birds, shot over the course of three years on all seven continents.​

SANS SOLEIL(1983): another favorite

A complex journey into time and memory, Chris Marker’s mind-bending free-form travelogue roams from Africa to Japan, guided by associative editing and an unnamed narrator.​

LA SOUFRIÈRE(1977):

In 1976 volcanic scientists believed that the Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe was to about to blow up with the explosive power of five or six atomic bombs. The entire town was evacuated, except one peasant who refused to leave. And of course our intrepid Herzog…​

THE HISTORY OF A BUTTERFLY: A ROMANCE OF INSECT LIFE(1910):

A 1910 British short black-and-white silent documentary film showing the life-cycle of the butterfly.​

TOUCHING THE VOID(2003):

The true story of two climbers and their perilous journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.​

THE EMPEROR'S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON(1987):

In this landmark documentary, Kenzo Okuzaki, a veteran of Japan’s WWII campaign in New Guinea, painstakingly tracks down the former military officers responsible for the strange deaths of several of his fellow soldiers.​

mubi review(not by me): "like a real-life under the flag of the rising sun, and all the more shocking for that. sometimes okuzaki veered into megalomania, but you have to respect his tenacity. i loved how he would entertain the typical customs of japanese politeness, but eventually blow up when his subjects kept using it as a shield."​

Just watched GADAJACE GLOWY, briliant stuff. The kids were hilarious. Did the girl really say "I am an ugly brunette" or what it some sort of strange translation?

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

Did the girl really say "I am an ugly brunette" or what it some sort of strange translation?

I wouldn't know. I've never seen anyone comment negatively on the translation though, so i think yes

 

[Peripheral Visionary]

"The Century of the Self" by Adam Curtis

 

[Rook]

Let the fire burn:
A documentation of the conflict between a naturalistic group called MOVE and the authorities of Philadelphia, with the burning down of a whole street block as the result.

Corporation: A look at the workings of the modern corporation, illustrating many problems with capitalism.

Without bound: perspectives on mobile living:
I was expecting a more objective look at mobile dwellers, instead this piece disappointing me greatly with people talking about themselves and what they saw wrong with society to make them live the way they did. Not worth your time.

I can highly recommend the emperor's naked army marches on.

Sans soleil is one of the greatest human creations I have ever beheld, definitely worthy of being seen.

Gadajce glowy, in it's shortness is interesting and quite nostalgic. The ending was amusing.

 

[Rook]

John cleese's wine for the confused:
Not noteworthy per se, unless you want to learn the basics about wine.

Mondo Cane:
A very interesting look at humanity and it's interaction with this planet.
From dog eating to pet cemeteries, cargo cults and elderly post marriage gymnasiums.
The narrator is very biased at times and the soundtrack very tacky, but the footage alone merits a watch by the contemporary homo sapiens sapiens.

Until the light takes us:
A view of the black metal scene in norway.
Churches are burnt, arms cut, people die and ultimately all of this is warped by the media to represent the prejudices of the christian majority who look down upon paganism.