I'd call this a golden age of documentary film-making.
A lot of documentary features are getting made, and many high quality worthwhile docs are coming down the pike each year. I've been lucky to see a number of outstanding docs, but many of my favorites have received comparatively little notice. Leading me to believe/worry that other gems are falling through the cracks as well. I was hoping this thread could be used to highlight some of the best documentaries from the past decade or so.
I just finished watching
McCullin a 2012 documentary about the life and lifework of Don McCullin, a British photojournalist, best known for his war photos from Vietnam, the Congo, Lebanon, etc. He makes for an interesting subject as he projects as a matter-of-fact humanity, along with his hardscrabble background and war junkie persona. The many horrific incidents he's witnessed haunt him and make him question the role of a war photographer. Such concerns become fairly immediate when he describes going into a home in Cyprus and photographing some men murdered there when suddenly the surviving family members return home to find him in the act. And then we see his photos of the family coming in the door, with bodies in the foreground. There's also an interesting dynamic/tension between the still photos McCullin took and the video footage we often also get of the same events. A well put-together, interesting documentary.
Some of my top doc recs from the past few years:
Talhotblond (Barbara Schroeder, 2009)
I thought this was expertly paced and handled. It's a a gripping story of internet relationship gone bad -- gone totally off the rails, in fact. The psychologist observes how much of a relationship involves the fantasy we construct of the relationship. Somehow
Catfish, from the following year, got a lot more attention for a somewhat similar tale of internet deception. But I thought
Catfish was a much shallower treatment and a less significant real event.
The Danish documentary
Putin's Kiss (2012) is a good glimpse into contemporary Russia, and the personality cult surrounding Putin. The film centers on the development of Masha Drokova who joins a pro-gov't youth movement called Nashi when she's 16 and moves up to become a spokesperson in the next couple of years. She becomes well-known as the girl who impulsively got up at a youth meeting and gave Putin a kiss. As things develop, her boss, the founder of Nashi, gets a quasi-ministerial appointment, and there's also a shadowy militant wing that targets the opposition. There's various intimidation tactics and occasional violence against opposition leaders and journalists. You know your pro-gov't youth movement has issues when it has to repeatedly assert that it is "democratic and anti-fascist."
Masha gets into a prestigious university, plus a nice apartment and late model sedan. She also gets a TV show where she interviews people on political topics. And through this she gets to know some of the independent Moscow journalists, and her views evolve. It's an interesting look at some of the people and personalities behind the scenes. Masha herself comes from a pretty ordinary middle class family in a small town somewhere or other. She seems more commitment and striving than brains, and her busty peasant looks don't hurt.
Masha's comes across as rather naive. But I don't think Putin or any authoritarian gov't wants an informed citizenry. They prefer to manipulate, and to ensure their own indispensability.
In many ways, NASHI is part of the Putin cult, and has close ties to the Kremlin, formed largely as a counter to the orange revolution in Ukraine. Masha initially is all caught up in the virility and strength and dynamism of puny balding Putin.
Masha depends upon Nashi founder Vasily Yakemenko in much the way Russia relies on Putin. To me, that was the crux of the film. That Russia itself is kind of an infantile naive striving democracy/dictatorship hybrid. That Masha = Contemporary Russia is the indictment.
There were more details I would have been interested in, and some of the political discussions remain at a general level. But overall, it's well done, interesting, informative.
Facing Ali (2010).
It seems that there were a whole spate of Ali related film in the past few years, and unfortunately this terrific doc got lost in the shuffle.
Ten Ali opponents are interviewed, and it's interesting to see where their thoughts and lives are, as these old ex-pugs reflect back on their careers and themselves. George Chuvalo and Ron Lyle are the most interesting and informative about boxing (I wasn't aware that Lyle, a trainer now, served 7+ years in jail in his 20's for 2nd degree murder which afforded him significant training time). Sadly, Frazier, Spinks and Norton are deemed to require fixed subtitles, though I thought there comments were pretty intelligible.
Clips of Ali and the fights are mixed in well and the soundtrack is impressive. Some stunning moments include Larry Holmes' self-appraisal, Chuvalo's mob indictment, and Ernie Terrell singing a ditty about beating Ali on the Tonight Show to the tune of Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey, two days prior to their fight. There are sad moments, including the void of Ali unable to be interviewed, which the documentary spars and dances around. A wonderful film. If you liked the Tyson doc, this is like ten Tyson's, each older and with their own perspective. The 3 other fighters are Henry Cooper, Ernie Shavers and Foreman. I've watched it three times, including once in black and white (a happy accident).
