Director: Werner Herzog
A fascinating look at the many aspects and implications of the Internet, though not quite as focused as some of its legendary director's other films and many documentaries.
As he's done with many of his documentaries, Herzog found his muse in his own insatiable curiosity. Wanting to get a better feel for the Internet and its many impacts in today's world, he sought out people involved in its creation and uses, both beneficial and damaging. These include some of the men on the original design team who created the very first servers and connections between California and New Jersey, people whose lives have been crippled by the ubiquity of electronics, people who lay out various doomsday scenarios made possible by our modern world's connectivity, and plenty of other interested parties.
While the width of the net that Herzog casts does manage to catch many people and subjects of interest, it also results in a general lack of any single, driving force or question. One can infer several larger, compelling implications from many of the segments, though there are several that seem more like tangential curiosities. For example, the film will have a section on how a single cyber attack or severe malfunction could essentially wipe out a power grid in much or all of entire countries. Then you will get a segment interviewing a single, addled old programmer rambling on about some wild conspiracy theories that seem to have little bearing on the larger picture. Nearly all of the sections of the documentary are of interest, but to such wildly varying degrees and quality that I felt myself wishing for a bit more cohesion from time to time. It does help that Herzog's unique brand of dry, quirky, dark, and sometimes unintentional humor can lighten the mood from time to time and put his novel stamp on this film as with nearly every other documentary I've seen of his.
Given that the Internet is arguably the single most powerful tool created by humans and that it is not going anywhere in our lifetimes, this is certainly a documentary worth checking out. It doesn't have the focus or power of some Herzog docs like Grizzly Man or Cave of Forgotten Dreams, but it does allow us to follow the man's ever-inquisitive and refreshingly unflinching trains of thought.
Director: Raoul Peck
Captivating look at genius American author James Baldwin and his views on race relations and what it means to be black in the U.S.
The documentary is focused on Baldwin, a gay African-American man who was one of the more influential authors and civil rights critics for most of his life, primarily between the 1950s and 1970s. While Baldwin achieved high praise for his stories and novels at a relatively young age, he was just as talented and passionate a lecturer and debater - skills which he put to work by befriending and helping such civil rights leaders as Medgar Evers, Malcolm X., Martin Luther King, and others.
I Am Not Your Negro traces all of these major elements of Baldwin's life solely through the man's own writings. Instead of commentary from associates, professors, or the filmmaker himself, the documentary lets its subject speak for himself. This was a wise decision for director Raoul Peck, given just how brilliant, articulate, thoughtful, and poetic James Baldwin was. There is a richness to the man's thoughts and words that demands close attention and multiple exposures. There really was nobody else who could have explained his experience as a black man in this country better than Baldwin himself. Enhancing the narrative are the many photos and video clips of Baldwin on late night talk shows, in college lecture halls, or in public debates over the question of race, racial inequality, and the ugly history of African-American abuse in this country. It's one thing to hear the man's moving and impassioned words read to you by a subdued and solemn Samuel L. Jackson (who did a phenomenal job here), but seeing Baldwin's facial expression and physical postures and movements adds a strength to the man that can be missing from mere text or sound bites.
Further elevating this documentary above many of its ilk is how director Raoul Peck regularly intersperses video from modern times to reflect the ways that many of the social ills which Baldwin witnessed are still present in this country today. A segment focusing on Baldwin's writings on the horrors born of racism has equal modern impact when heard over video clips of African-Americans being beaten or killed in the 21st century, making it all the more clear that we are far from beyond such disturbing problems.
Had it not been for the amazing documentary O.J.: Made in America being released last year, I feel that I Am Not Your Negro would have won the Academy Award for best documentary. It is of the highest caliber, and it is one that everyone should watch at least once.
No comments:
Post a Comment