The last six years have been an amazing time for documentaries.
I am not thinking of the Usual Documentary. That is a movie about important issues you ought to care about: global warming, AIDS, Iraq, the Bush Presidency, the war on terror, the curtailment of civil liberties, genocide in Africa, Columbine, abortion, homosexuality, Iraq, big tobacco, the food industry, the capitalist exploitation of XXX, Iraq, etc..
Or it’s a movie about an important person you should care about (famous athlete, rock star, Hollywood celebrity, or historical figure). Or it’s a movie about Science or Nature, which everybody should care about.
Don’t get me wrong: those movies are great in their own way, and some amazing stuff of this sort has been made in the last 6-7 years too. For example, in the famous rock star category, I was personally crazy about “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.” In the Iraq meets Famous Person meets the War On Terror (three categories for one) I liked the miniseries “The House of Saddam.”
But the Usual D is not what I want to talk about today.
What I am thinking of here are movies that are ultimately about people, often families, and their friends, children, and enemies — all people you wouldn’t normally have heard of outside the movie being made. They are ultimately movies that are just like a great work of fiction — with the unexpected virtue that the stories really happened.
Strolling backward in time, they are:
* Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
* Surfwise (2007)
* My Kid Could Paint That (2007)
* King of Kong (2007)
* Deep Water (2006)
* Murderball (2005)
* Born Into Brothels (2004)
* Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
* My Architect (2003)
Like any standard documentary, all of these movies appear at first to be about a subject: steroids, surfing, modern art, arcade games, and so on. But very swiftly you get drawn in and realize that’s not what they are really about at all. They are in fact stories, often incredibly gripping, about people and their joys and fears and hopes and suffering; their quest for identity and meaning; and most all the way that Judgment and Love, law and grace, play out in their lives.
God bless, and have a good time at the movies.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Is it a documentary about steroids, or a poignant story about three brothers? One of my favorite movies of the last few years.
Surfwise
A movie about a family of surfers: father, mother, eight boys, and one daughter, all living in a 24-foot camper during the 60s and 70s.
My Kid Could Paint That
A young girl becomes the darling of the media and the modern art world, who then turn on her.
Fascinating movie not only about art but about childhood and parenthood.
King of Kong (2007)
Lovely movie about two guys duking it out over the right to be the best Donkey Kong player ever.
Here’s a Mockingbird thread about this movie from January 2009, along with two really fun clips.
Deep Water (2006)
Based on the true story of Donald Crowhurst and the 1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race round the world — alone — in a yacht.
A movie about ambition, love, and an abyss of madness and loneliness that threatens to engulf this man.
Beautiful and touching and frightening.
Murderball (2005)
Documentary about quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby in Mad Max-style wheelchairs. More truly a movie about rage, grief, brotherhood, forgiveness, one-way love and implacable law.
Born Into Brothels (2004)
“A portrait of several unforgettable children who live in the red light district of Calcutta, where their mothers work as prostitutes.
Zana Briski, a New York-based photographer, gives each of the children a camera and teaches them to look at the world with new eyes.”
Capturing The Friedmans (2003)
One of the best movies of the last 10 years. True story of a family disintegrating under charges of sexual misconduct.
Not since The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter has there been such a close examination of witch hunts and community self-righteousness.
My Architect (2003)
Partly a movie about the great 20th century architect Louis Kahn, but in truth really a touching meditation about the man’s son, who is searching for his father, “my architect.”
Nice quote from the movie: “How accidental our existences are, really, and how full of influence by circumstance.”
COMMENTS
7 responses to “Mockingbird at the Movies: True Stories”
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Thanks for reminding me to finish watching 'Born into Brothels'…what an intense film!
Yes! A thousand times yes!
I would add a few others:
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
New York Doll
Man on Wire
Wordplay & Spellbound
Now I know that these are about people you may have heard of (especially the Eyes of Tammy Faye) but ultimately all of them are about human failure and grace-filled redemption. I particularly recommend New York Doll. It's about Killer Kane, the bassist of the New York Dolls. I can't even begin to describe the sin/grace/Romans 7 vibe of the film.
Thanks for your list… several of them were already on my Netflix queue, but now I have some more to add!
This is a great list. Thank you, John. I really need to see Surfwise and Bigger Stronger Faster! Oh and I second Mattie's recommendation of New York Doll. Very affecting stuff.
With whatever gravitas being a Mockingbird at the Movies contributor grants me, I urge everyone to see Capturing the Friedmans AT ONCE. This movie, in the immortal words of Will Hunting, "will really knock you on your @$$." Thanks, Stampdawg!
Oh, and to add to the list, something we've discussed before, but which merits mention: "American Movie."
I love American Movie! And then there's all the Errol Morris stuff, which may be a bit more dated but is still really great, esp Gates of Heaven and Fast Cheap And Out Of Control.
And how could i forget my favorite doc of all time, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart….
Thanks to everyone so far.
I've never seen "New York Doll" but can't wait. Adding to my queue now.
Thanks for mentioning "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" which I do love. That and "The Trials of Ted Haggard" are essential viewing. They were both about celebrities of a sort so I din't include them in my column, but they are so important. Sadly, "The Trials of Ted" has not yet been purchased by Netflix — let's demand it now!
If you like "Spellbound" you would also like "Mad Hot Ballroom", which is lovely and very recent. I almost included it.
I am gonna go out on a wire here (cymbal crash) and admit that I just couldn't get behind "Man On Wire" and so I omitted it intentionally. It's probably just me — everybody else LOVED it. But for some reason I couldn't connect to the main character, who just seemed like a deranged Frenchman. For me the movie lacked the warmth and emotional power of the other movies. For a while I kidded myself into thinking I liked it, just because I was intimidated by all its reviews; but I finally just admitted I din't like it much. Again, though it must be something with me cause it got stellar reviews.
You guys are right that there are more of these lovely character based documentaries one could find if one stretches back further in time. My favorite is "Brother's Keeper" (1992). I think you all would love this. It is the best movie of this sort I have seen EVER.