Movies -- A Recap -- Part XVI -- More Documentaries

I guess we watch a lot of documentaries.

If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front was a sort of a weird one.  It profiles an activist in the ELF, the destruction he and his compatriots attempt to prevent, the sometimes unorthodox (but often at least temporarily effective) methods they use, and the price they pay for their behavior.  The ELF is high up there on the FBI's list of top domestic terror organizations.  This is a very pro-ELF film, but even looking back on it, it's pretty crazy to think that this guy ended up with years in prison for trying to save some trees when such huge amounts of corporate crime that defraud the American public of cost them billions of dollars in tax money go unpunished.  It's pretty wild to think about our national priorities sometimes.  If you're curious, you can see some redacted FBI docs about the ELF here.

Several years ago, I noticed yoga studios around St. Louis changing their name from "Bikram Yoga" to "Hot Yoga."  Now I know why.  Bikram profiles Bikram Choudhury's rise to fame and fortune in the yoga world.  The Indian-born teacher promoted his hot yoga practice, engaged in intense teacher training, and was an all-around marketing machine.  As one might expect of a rich and power man in the news these days, allegations of sexual assault and harassment surfaced, and he fled the United States.  He is continuing to practice and teach elsewhere.  The movie itself wasn't great, but the

All Its Name Implies is a story of fire.  Specifically, it's the story of the 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, California (to which the title of the movie refers).  If you ever doubted the terrifying power of fire, the cell phone footage of residents trying to flee the flames will change your mind.  This is something I never want to experience.  The movie has a lot of intro, which seemed unnecessary at the time, and upon completion of the movie turns out to have been, in fact, mostly unnecessary.  I would have liked more info about the fire itself, and I was confused by why, when the rebuilding started, everyone was building back with plywood.  The brick and metal buildings survived the fire far better than the wooden ones did, so why not switch to those?  (I know cost is the obviously answer.  But still.)

A Most Beautiful Thing was catnip for me, as any movie about rowing is.  Plus, the shots of both Chicago and St. Louis had me glued to the screen.  Old friends, who survived their tough circumstances growing up on the gang-ridden west side of Chicago by joining a rowing team, reunite years later after the death of their coach.  They get back to rowing and they talk openly about their struggles and successes.  The all-black team challenges a group of white police officers to a race, which was unexpected during the racial violence of the pandemic.  (The movie was filmed prior to the pandemic.)  Inspiring - and did I mention that they're rowers?  This one was a winner.

If you're looking for a non-rowing sports doc, you could try The Heavies.  Competitors in "the world's oldest professional sport," the Highland Games, compete to be named the best in the world.  I very much enjoyed the subject matter of this film; this is just the sort of weird thing that S and I might jet off to see.  I had a hard time really caring about any of the athletes the film profiled, though.

If you're in the mood for a little more nuclear-radiation-based film-making (because you've already watched these two), check out Chernobyl's Cafe.  Much to my surprise, Chernobyl has generated quite a little tourism industry, with lots of folks flocking to the still-contaminated site to see the real-life setting for so many video games and movies.  Plus, workers are thick in the area as some additional containment measures require the construction of new buildings.  Someone has to feed all these people while they're there, and the Cafe 10 has stepped up to the plate, so to speak.  The movie really is about the whole place though, not just the cafe.  It was fascinating, but there was missing information that I wished they would provide.  For example, the narrator says "plants have tumors and strange growths," but they don't show pictures of any of them. Or the tidbit that the most-visited site is the old Pripyat swimming pool, "which was featured in the famous video game."  What game? Those moments were frustrating.

The Elephant Queen (not to be confused with The African Queen, which is a quite different film) follows Athena, the matriarch of a herd of African elephants, as they make their annual trek through the Savanna desert.  The film is not myopic vis a vis the elephants; you get peeks at the animals and plants that they interact with and impact along the way.  As with so many nature documentaries, it is beautiful and eye-opening and heartbreaking.  Great footage and some interesting musical choices, too.