Krzysztof Kieślowski unmasks the prototype of the informer and opportunist (in a totalitarian society) exclusively from the latter’s own perspective. Even the commentary is by the ambivalent protagonist. Kieślowski later kept the film under lock and key in order not to harm his protagonist.
Category: Documentary
On April Fool’s Day, 1989, a man crossing the road between two garage sales was hit by a car and thrown into a state between life and death. Nine years later, his daughter uses her camera to try and understand both the absent moment and its lasting impact on her family, Russian immigrants marooned in Colorado.
Follows contemporary American poet James Dickey on a three week lecture tour. Reveals the actual thoughts and feelings of the poet through his conversations and poetry readings.
The Savage Eye is an experimental hybrid between fiction and documentary, portraying urban life as both a nightmare and a release. The poetic text sometimes contrasts with intriguing, neutral footage. When it was released in 1960, The Savage Eye was seen as an important example of cinema verité. Filmmakers Sidney Meyers, Ben Maddow and Joseph Strick worked on the film for a full four years in their free time. There’s an important role for music, performed by a brass ensemble and composed by Leonard Rosenman, who went on to write scores for films such as Barry Lyndon (1975) and Sybil (1976).
This documentary chronicles the life and art of Bob Flanagan, who was diagnosed with the disease cystic fibrosis. Director Kirby Dick examines how Flanagan began routinely maiming his own body to deal with and overcome the acute physical pain he felt every day. Flanagan’s self-torturing habits are the basis for his avant-garde live performances, which are featured prominently in the film. Dick also explores Flanagan’s unusual romance with a dominatrix.
‘Nancy Franklin’ was so overwhelmed by the film I Know Where I’m Going! (1945) that she traveled from New York to the Western Isles of Scotland to see the places where it was made and to find out more about the people who made it. This documentary retraces her steps on a subsequent visit.
Non-narrated treatment of the activities carried out in an abattoir. An unlikely subject for a documentary, but the filmmaker captures the strength and terrible beauty in the daily preparation for slaughter. The sound track echoes with hard metallic knives being ground, tested and sharpened. No beast is actually shown being killed but the slaughter is mirrored in the blood-red faces of the men and the scenes of water flushing away the blood to a river – thus water purges but never really cleans the walls of the slaughter house. A powerful film – almost abstract at times. Perhaps even more effective because of what it leaves unsaid and unshown.
Canadian poet Leonard Cohen who now resides on the island of Hydra in Greece, is shown in his native city of Montreal. The program explores Cohens childhood and his subsequent development as one of Canadas leading new writers. The film takes viewers to the house Cohen was brought up in as well as to the places of Montreal he enjoys frequenting his favorite bistro, a three dollar-a-day hotel, the public park, the exclusive section called Westmount, and a Greek grocery store. Cohen himself is shown at a recording session, at public readings of his poetry, displaying home movies of his childhood, and commenting on university life. He also reflects on his visit to Cuba, his girlfriend in Greece, his obsession with danger and his friends and their personalities.