Category: Documentary

By Joe Bendel. In the 1970s, Arthur C. Clarke predicted that you would read this review. It was all a matter of science and he was one of the best at putting the “s” in “sf.” Recently, Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs opened with Clarke’s outlandish prophecy that personal computers would one day become commonplace and now a new documentary prominently features Clarke’s conception of a space elevator, and the 1979 novel The Fountains of Paradise in which they reshape our world. Of course, his predictions regarding computers have already come to pass, but the space elevator’s time has not yet come. Miguel Drake-McLaughlin & Jonny Leahan profile the scientists and entrepreneurs trying to realize the not-impossible space elevator dream in Sky Line, premiering at this year’s DOC NYC.

Sky Line does a super job explaining the space elevator idea for layman, which in itself is probably a significant contribution to the discourse. Essentially, it is like a tether ball. Some kind of node is attached to the terra firma by an enormous chord that becomes taut due to the Earth’s rotation. In theory, we should be able to zip cargo and space vessels up that line much more economically than by using dirty old rockets. The problem is we do not quite have strong enough material for the cable yet, but we are close.

The space elevator seems tantalizingly doable, but NASA has not exactly taken a leadership role in its development. It has largely been left to private academic and entrepreneurial concerns. Some of the various space elevator proponents share what could be described as a friendly rivalry, whereas others clearly do not. Michael Laine, the founder of LiftPort seems to a real feather-ruffler, but he certainly put his money where his mouth was. He is also probably the film’s best interview subject.

There is a lot of interesting science made understandable in Sky Line, but probably the coolest stuff in the film are the excerpts from the abridged Fountains of Paradise LP read by Clarke himself and all the striking retro Chesley Bonestell-style concept art. Unfortunately, the film suffers from the lack of a clear dramatic arc, but there is not a lot Drake-McLaughlin and Leahan could do about that, short of rolling up their sleeves and brainstorming a breakthrough in carbon nanotube technology.

Arguably, there is even more urgency to the drive to realize the space elevator concept than Sky Line suggests. Right now, the American space program has no manned space travel capacity. We are entirely dependent on Russia if we want to hitch a ride to the International Space Station. Obviously, this is a highly problematic situation. Regardless, Sky Line does a nice job explaining the concepts and benefits of the space elevator, but it doesn’t quite fire up the audience the way proponents were probably hoping. However, it is highly informative, which is certainly laudable. Recommended for space program boosters and those interested in popular science, Sky Line screens this Sunday (11/15) and the following Wednesday (11/18) at the IFC Center, as part of DOC NYC 2015.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on November 13th, 2015 at 12:42pm.

By Joe Bendel. During the swinging sixties, Cambodia’s King Sihanouk was composing rock & roll tunes. Unfortunately, when he made his Faustian deal with the Khmer Rouge, he had to shift gears and churn out patriotic dirges. Needless to say, Cambodians prefer his earlier work. The 60s pop surveyed in Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten remains popular, but sadly nine out of ten Cambodian recording artists were murdered during Pol Pot’s socialist genocide. However, an unlikely new group has found success giving those catchy tunes a fresh contemporary spin. Marc Eberle documents their formation and growing pains in Cambodian Space Project: Not East Rock ‘n’ Roll, which screens during the 2015 Hawaii International Film Festival.

When Australian musician Julien Poulson met Srey Thy [Channthy], she was working in a karaoke bar. Her job did involve singing, but other duties were implied, as Poulson quickly confirmed. However, something about her stage presence stuck with him. Like a Cambodian Pretty Woman, Poulson hatched an idea to form a band with Srey Thy, combining elements of Western and Cambodian pop.

Despite her humble status and other assorted prejudices against her, the Cambodian Space Project kind of sort of takes off. In the short run, this means more gigs than dough. However, Srey Thy starts to envision a respectable future for herself—with Poulson, at least for a while. Let’s just say their relationship evolves considerably.

Cambodian Space Project might be the only band truly worthy of a reality TV show. There is a heck of a lot going on with them backstage (even though Eberle problematically ignores the other members of the group). Yet, in many ways, the identity of the CSP is inextricably intertwined with the tragic history of Cambodia. Srey Thy has a particular affinity for the sassy songs of Pen Ran, who was one of so many artists deliberately ferreted out and executed by the Khmer Rouge for their involvement in bourgeoisie culture. She can also directly observe the effects of their reign of terror in her father, who ostensibly survived the genocide, but remains deeply traumatized by the tortures he endured.

Clearly, chronicling the Cambodian Space Project was a mission of passion for Eberle, who also directed several of the band’s videos. He invested several years following them around the world, capturing some significant and telling moments as a result. While their story is deeply Cambodian, it has elements both Horatio Alger and O. Henry would appreciate. Of course, that messiness makes it rather fascinating, in a voyeuristic kind of way.

While Eberle’s doc is nowhere near as emotionally moving or aesthetically elegant as Davy Chou’s Golden Slumbers, it is briskly paced and incorporates some cool graphics and interstitial animation. It is also nice to be hipped to such a groovy band. Recommended for fans of world pop, Cambodian Space Project: Not East Rock ‘n’ Roll screens this Friday (11/13) and Monday (11/16) as part of this year’s HIFF.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on November 13th, 2015 at 12:42pm.

By Joe Bendel. By now, Westerners know to be wary whenever do-gooder activists show up offering their services out of the goodness of their hearts. A provincial Chinese primary school teacher learns that lesson the hard way in one of the most isolated schools in the world. Xu Hongjie documented every agonizing step of the resulting clash of values and personalities in On the Rim of the Sky, which screens during this year’s DOC NYC.

You know what they say about the Road to Hell? Well, in this case, it is debatable just how good the Che Guevara-idolizing Bao Tangtao’s intentions really are. Regardless, it is safe to say he enjoys getting praised for his supposed altruism. In contrast, “Teacher Shen” Qijun has been content to quietly plug away as the only teacher students of Gulu village have known for the last twenty-five years. However, because Shen only has a middle school diploma, the educational bureaucracy classifies him as a substitute teacher. As a result, he has earned a pittance compared to so-called full time teachers.

Since Gulu is literally built into the side of a treacherous cliff face, Shen has been the only teacher willing to stay in the mountain village. Initially, he welcomed the help offered by Bao and his colleagues from an Americorps style non-profit, but it was clear the “volunteers” were more interested in taking bows than actually teaching, right from the start. Unfortunately, Shen also flashes his temper a little too freely, resulting in a bitter and prolonged conflict between the two. Frustratingly, most of the village apparently sides with Bao and his cronies, because they can bring the development funds. Despite the official complaints they convince the villagers to file, Shen has one trump card in their power struggle—he controls the school’s bank account.

Rim is one of the most draining, disillusioning films you will see all year. Xu resists playing favorites between Shen and Bao, but she simply catches the latter in too many unflattering moments to maintain an air of neutrality. Plus, the bitterly ironic implications of the closing scene are impossible to miss.

The drama Xu records is massively real and the stakes are hugely significant. Yet, just the act of filming in Gulu represented a serious challenge. It is about as accessible as Shangri-La, but that vivid sense of place further distinguishes Rim from equally disenchanting but dingier looking independent Chinese documentaries.

Rim plays like a collaboration between Jia Zhangke and Arthur Miller, but it is all real life happening. It is a real feat of nonfiction filmmaking that will make you gasp in several different ways. Xu’s multi-year investment pays off in spades with a film that will ultimately turn your stomach to ice. Very highly recommended, On the Rim of the World screens this Sunday morning (11/15) at the IFC Center, as part of DOC NYC ’15.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on November 13th, 2015 at 12:40pm.

By Joe Bendel. Sderot ought to be known as Israel’s Seattle, considering how many earthy and influential Israeli rock bands have hailed from there. Unfortunately, the constant rocket attacks from Gaza have thus far frightened off potential music tourists. By the time filmmaker Laura Bialis arrived, seven thousand so-called Qassam rockets had already pummeled the city of some 20,000 citizens—and Hamas was only getting started. However, Bialis would not be dissuaded from documenting the Sderot scene in Rock in the Red Zone, which opens this Thursday in New York.

A Qassam is basically a flying pipe bomb loaded with shrapnel. From a legitimate military perspective, they are too unpredictable for practical use, but they are perfect for inflicting pain on innocent civilians. Of course, that is exactly why Hamas and their fellow terrorists use them. When Bialis started filming in Sderot, the city was just inside the so-called Red Zone, making it ground zero for Qassam attacks. Thanks to the alert system, Sderot residences had fifteen seconds to find shelter after a launch was detected (that’s fifteen Mississippi’s). Eventually, other cities started to feel Sderot’s pain, but for years, Qassam attacks were a perversely localized phenomenon. Music became the coping mechanism for a deeply traumatized city.

For Bialis and many young Sderot musicians, it all starts with Sderock, a club and rehearsal studio conveniently located in a bomb shelter. You had better get used to seeing concrete reinforced basements. Bialis’s filming is interrupted at least dozen times (probably more) by launch warnings. None of it was included for effect. It is simply impossible to make a documentary in Sderot without the sound of explosions.

Avi Vaknin, the proprietor of Sderock, will introduce Bialis to a host of diverse musicians calling Sderot (and its outskirts) home. In many ways, their brand of rock incorporating what could be described as world music influences has conquered the Israeli mainstream, yet at that point, Sderot still felt isolated and forgotten. Since both were looking for flats, Vaknin and Bialis became housemates—and life continued, despite the constant raining terror.

Bialis is a world class documentarian who previously made the outstanding Refusenik, but the immediacy and emotional resonance of Red Zone is something else entirely. Literally years in the making, it witnesses over a decade of Israeli history from the perspective of the bullseye in the center of Hamas’s target. At times it is harrowing, but it is also funny and deeply passionate, particularly the music.

Without a doubt, Red Zone is the feel-good, get-angry, and get-down movie of the year. When it is over, you will have seen a heck of a lot of life happening and far too much tragedy. Very highly recommended, Rock in the Red Zone opens this Thursday (11/12) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on November 12th, 2015 at 9:25pm.

By Joe Bendel. Steve McQueen helped finance and appeared in the Oscar-nominated On Any Sunday, which remains the preeminent motorcycle documentary to this day. He had something similar in mind for Le Mans. However, the rest of the cast and crew thought they were making a dramatic narrative. Those are what are generally termed creative differences. There were quite a few going on behind-the-scenes of the 1971 film. The difficult production process as well as the eternally cool actor’s passion for the sport are chronicled in John McKenna & Gabriel Clarke’ Steve McQueen: the Man and Le Mans, which opens this Friday in New York.

Le Mans is the oldest endurance contest in car racing—twenty-four hours circling the picturesque French village. As McQueen envisioned it, Le Mans would give viewers a vivid, tactile sense of what it was like to drive the course at speeds over 200 miles per hour. Like Paul Newman (who finished second at Le Mans in 1979), McQueen was a legit racer in his own right, but for insurance reasons, he was not allowed to compete in the actual race. However, much of what driver Jonathan Williams’ camera car recorded during that year’s Le Mans was incorporated into the film. They had the authenticity nailed down, but they lacked a script.

It quickly becomes apparent from the rediscovered “making of” footage and interviews with the surviving participants, Le Mans could be considered something like McQueen’s Apocalypse Now. It ballooned way over budget and severed several of McQueen’s professional relationships. During the chaotic shoot, McQueen’s marriage to cabaret-musical theater performer Neile Adams also collapsed. However, causal fans might be most surprised to learn McQueen was already under stress following revelations the Manson Family had specifically targeted him. In fact, he was expected to join his friend Jason Sebring at Sharon Tate’s home on that horrific night.

For a film about the need for speed, Man and Le Mans is surprisingly calm and contemplative, even with McQueen’s son Chad doing his best to liven things up with attitude and enthusiasm. Still, McKenna & Clarke include plenty of ironic anecdotes and fully capture a holistic sense of the actor, the race, and the challenging film. They even score a pretty significant scoop, vouched for by McQueen’s former personal assistant Mario Iscovich (a great interview) and Louise Edlind, the sort-of lead actress, who would later be elected to Sweden’s parliament.

It’s not Bullitt, but Man and Le Mans is still a good movie for auto enthusiasts. Arguably, McKenna & Clarke’s Zen-like approach works quite well, especially considering how their use of ghostly audio interviews recorded with McQueen shortly before his death gives the film such an elegiac vibe. If you like motor sports and classic Hollywood, Man and Le Mans would make a terrific triple feature with Winning: the Racing Life of Paul Newman and Weekend of a Champion, featuring Roman Polanski. All three are quite entertaining, even if you are more interested in the famous drivers than their fast cars. Recommended for McQueen fans, Steve McQueen: the Man and Le Mans opens this Friday (11/13) in New York, at the Village East.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on November 11th, 2015 at 7:34pm.

By Joe Bendel. Despite what you may have heard, punk is not dead yet. It just needs a bit of theatrics and costuming to perk it up. The Japanese band Peelander-Z is all over that. Their music is whatever, but their ruckus stage shows combine elements of Jackass, Sun Ra, and the Power Rangers. They are definitely a cult act, but they have sort of made a go of it. However, they are about to experience a rocky patch of soul-searching in Jonathan Yi & Michael Haertlein’s Mad Tiger, which screens during this year’s DOC NYC.

Supposedly Peelander-Z hails from Planet Peelander. Why have they come to Earth? To rock, dummy. Peelander Yellow (a.k.a. Kengo Hioki, he’s the one with the bright yellow hair) has fronted the band since 1998, which is an eternity in punk time. For twelve of those years, Peelander Red has been their bass player and the go-to-guy for really off-the-wall physical stunts. When he decides to retire, Peelander Yellow quickly replaces him with Peelander Purple, his old friend from the dark side of Peelander. However, both Yellow and Red have trouble finding the closure they were hoping to reach.

Let’s be honest. Peelander Z is more punk than the old school punk of the late 1970s. Take for instance Peelander Yellow’s Letterman tooth gap. He originally broke his front tooth during a performance at Bonnaroo, but he gave up trying to replace it with a crown, because he kept breaking those as well.

Yi (who directed Peelander-Z’s “So Many Mike” video) and Haertlein vividly capture the bedlam of the Peelander experience, but they also document some backstage drama worthy of the old Behind the Music docu-series. They might be kind of nuts, but they have the same problems as more conventional bands. They also need more time for dying their hair, but fortunately they have a cool band stylist with a good sense of humor.

Mad Tiger is a ton of fun, but it also takes Peelander Yellow’s sudden feelings of spiritual emptiness seriously. Believe it or not, it might just include the most positive, sympathetic depiction of Christianity in any DOC NYC film this year, due to the scenes of Yellow reconnecting with his converted family in Japan. Sure, there are plenty of giant squids in Mad Tiger (named for one of their greatest hits), yet is also an acutely human film, in an intergalactic kind of way.

It is indeed a super film that comes fully loaded with energy, attitude, and lunacy. Very highly recommended for punk fans and Peelander expats, Mad Tiger screens Friday night (11/13) at the IFC Center, as part of DOC NYC 2015.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on November 12th, 2015 at 9:25pm.