Documentary

WALK WITH ME

Cert PG 93mins Stars 1

There’s not much to be learned from this  fly on the wall documentary which amounts to little more than an advertisement for a Buddhist retreat in France.

The filmmakers seem to have traded access for acquiescence and checked their critical faculties at the front gate.

Bells regulate the lives of the shaven-headed and celibate monks, at the sound of which all activities pause, in order to encourage ‘mindfulness’.

However enlightenment can be anyone’s for a mind expanding and eye-opening €550 per-person per-week, for a double room stay at the monastery.

As the film is coy about the prices, I looked them up on their website.

The concept  of ‘mindfulness’ seems to be that life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Well it was actually Ferris Bueller who said that, and he got to drive a Ferrari. Maybe those monks are onto something.

 

MOUNTAIN

Cert PG 74mins Stars 3

From the Himalayas, to the Grand Canyon and the Alps, this sky scraping documentary is a hymn to the majesty of mountains.

But as much as it soars with gorgeous vistas and the sublime music of Vivaldi, it crashes to earth whenever humans intrude.

Gravel voiced Willem Dafoe delivers a narration which explores humans relationship with mountains, It falls from profundity to trippy pretentiousness, and lacking facts or insight, it makes wild assumptions of our sympathies.

Plus there’s an odd nostalgia for a time when access to Mount Everest was exclusively for exploited locals and gentleman amateur climbers of the empire.

Astonishingly beautiful photography sits at odds with what at times seems a collection of YouTube clips or outtakes from the rubbish remake of extreme sports action thriller, Point Break.

The only thing bigger than the peaks are the towering egos of these self satisfied show offs who ski, cycle, free jump and occasionally face-plant from the precipices.

GRACE JONES: BLOODLIGHT AND BAMI

Cert 15 115mins Stars 3

Experience the spotlight life of 1980’s pop cultural icon Grace Jones, in this revealing documentary.

Combining lengthy concert video footage from her recent tour of Ireland with candid  behind the scenes insight, this is an intimate portrait of a fiercely independent artist.

Much to delight of  decades-loyal fan base, the fearless and flamboyant singer, actor and model still appears onstage in little more than hats, heels and corsets. 

This forward looking film has no historical stats of chart success, income earned or film roles. There’s not so much as a birthdate. 

Instead we see her operating today as a business woman who acts as her own agent and manager.

A bilingual grandmother, Jones is knowingly funny, sharply intelligent and unapologetically opinionated. She lives in expensive hotel suites and fuels herself on a singular diet of champagne and oysters.

It’s a lot to take in, but then Jones has always been about excess.

THE REAGAN SHOW

Cert PG 74mins Stars 3

This frustrating documentary about 40th US president overestimates the strength of its own brief and ends up improvising to camera.

It begins by arguing after starring in 53 Hollywood movies, Ronald Reagan was perfectly trained to be Commander in Chief.

He had great broadcasting skills, was comfortable surrounded by cameras, had an eye for a photo opportunity and established a new media template for those who followed. 

Plus there are some entertaining snippets about techniques he’d use to avoid answering awkward questions, but it exhausts its best material early on.

So with little evidence in support, it reduces the resolution of the Cold War nuclear arms race against the USSR to a series of PR stunts designed to upstage Gorbachev, Reagan’s opposite number in the Kremlin.

This is a useful primer for the YouTube generation for whom all this is ancient history, but there’s little new for those of us who remember it first time around.

CITY OF GHOSTS

Cert 18 Stars 5

This shocking documentary highlights the full extent of the medieval barbarity ISIS has inflicted on the populace of the Syrian city of Raqqa since 2011.

Easily the most harrowing film of the year, it’s a fascinating exploration of how the written word has been supplanted by smartphones and the internet as vehicles for political change.

Four ordinary men risk their lives by secretly filming the public beheadings, crucifixions and executions, all of which we witness here in graphic detail.

And the dignity, courage and faith demonstrated by the keyboard warriors will haunt you long after the final credits.

 

 

PECKING ORDER

Cert PG 88min Stars 3

Flock to this tasty New Zealand documentary which sheds a light on the drama of competitive chicken shows.

As in any beauty pageant the competitors are thoroughly groomed and fed on a diet of bird seed, though possibly with bigger servings than their human counterparts. Being plump here is encouraged.

It’s an increasingly tense affair as well seasoned veterans and raw youths of the Christchurch Poultry Club vie to knock the champ off their perch at the national show.

Plus there’s fowl play in the committee room where a battle between modernisers and traditionalists threatens the existence of 148-year-old club.

Feathers are ruffled as members scratch around for votes, and the simmering hotpot of politics are brought to boil with an attempted presidential coup.

Though the politics are vicious the enthusiasm for the show birds is endearing and the tone stays jolly throughout. This warm and affectionate portrait of semi-rural life offers a clucking good time for everyone.

CANALETTO & THE ART OF VENICE

Cert U 87mins Stars 4

Explore her majesty’s private art collection with this documentary of the great 18th century Venetian landscape painter, Canaletto.

Perfect for those wanting an introduction his work and life, it’s based around a stunning public exhibition of his sketches, prints and paintings at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, which runs until November 12.

If you can’t get to London to see it, this is the next best thing.

Bursting with elements of everyday life, Canaletto’s glorious depictions of the city and its famous canals drove British tourism to the wealthy maritime city.

Canaletto’s agent Joseph Smith also happened to be the British Consul in Venice and the fascinating relationship between the two men is a great example of the conflicts which occur when art and commerce collide.

With an enjoyably conversational manner, curators and historians explain his significance and its historical context. The great artworks are photographed to their best advantage, and Venice is visited to remind us there is just one Canaletto.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH 2: THE TRUTH TO POWER

Cert PG 97mins Stars 4

There’s no shelter from the weather bomb of climate change evidence in this persuasive documentary as it’s makes an impassioned plea for a switch to renewable energy.

The thunder of science and the deluge of frightening footage make for a terrifying watch.

With Greenland now alarmingly green not icy white, God fearing former US Vice President Al Gore is evangelical in his mission to cut carbon emissions in order to reduce climate change and save the planet.

His Oscar winning documentary a decade ago resulted in a noble prize and now Gore is back to remind us there’s still lots of work to be done.

On his globetrotting lecture tour to mobilise a grassroots movement against the fossil energy industry, he likens his crusade to that of the suffragettes and the 1960’s civil rights movement of Martin Luther King.

If Donald Trump’s nuclear threats don’t destroy us all, his decision to renege on 2016’s Paris Agreement probably will.

 

STEP

Cert PG 84mins Stars 4

Jump straight into this inspirational coming of age documentary set in African American all girls high school.

Stepping is a form of choreographed dance, resembling a high tempo hip hop Haka performed by teenage Olympians.

In the impoverished area of Baltimore and to the backdrop of race riots sparked by the death of an African American man in police custody, a state school has set itself the ambitious target of having all its final year girls earning a place at university.

Our introduction to the girls is through their Step team, they’re trying to win a championship as well as push themselves academically.

The title also refers to the number of step siblings and parents on show, and the formidable hurdles of race, class and money the the students must clear in order to succeed.

Highly motivated and aspirational teachers channel the girls’ passion and determination into their ferocious routines, you’ll kick yourself if you miss this.

 

RISK

Cert 15 91mins Stars 3

This fly-on-the-wall documentary uses its remarkable degree of access to paint an  unflatteringly honest portrait of Julian Assange.

Revealing little we didn’t already know about the founder of whistle blowing website Wikileaks, it does show filmmaker Laura Poitras becoming increasingly disillusioned with her chosen subject.

It’s a great example of how a film sets out to explore a subject and finds itself changing during the course of its own making.

Filming began before and continued through Assange’s self imposed asylum in the embassy of Ecuador, in London. He’s there to avoid extradition to Sweden where he’s wanted for questioning in regards to a rape case.

He’s a royally arrogant, incredibly paranoid and startlingly unsympathetic character, whose colossal ego is stroked by the attendance of celebrities such as Lady Gaga.

Long before the end, Poitras is one of many who have fallen out with Assange but the fame junkie continues to allow her access. The poor Ecuadorians are welcome to him.