Basic Plot: Documentary that covers the creation of a single Steinway concert grand piano.
Outburst: I love pianos and find classical music enjoyable on occasion, but this documentary is a yawn-fest. The lack of expository voiceover scripting is seriously detrimental; no one wants to hear a plethora of heavily accented New Yorkers talk about their jobs. The cut scenes of Long Island in winter demonstrate the passage of time through snow-covered visual misery. All the footage is available for a stellar film; unfortunately what they churned out post-edit is crap. Takeaways? It takes a year to make a piano. They are made from wood. Good pianos are crafted and tuned by hand.
(0 stars) — This is probably a mandatory video for new employees of Steinway. Everyone else is better off watching the piano segment from the Discovery Channel show How It’s Made.
Basic Plot: Documentary about the amazing annual migration of the Bakhtiari, when half a million people and a million animals struggle to scale the Zagros Mountains.
Outburst: The commentary is the best part as the chieftain’s stories are engaging and slightly cynical. The gorgeous cinematography of the era pales beside any modern film; you will not be visually impressed. This is a way of life that has almost entirely faded from Earth and might never come again. In fact, as of 2006, the Bakhtiari migration now takes place by road in trucks. None of this is scripted; there are no actors and no retakes.
— Of ethnological interest. For everyone else, this is a yawn.
The original version of this documentary was made as a Christian faith production. I watched the ‘secular version’ which was a re-edit done for more mainstream audiences.
Basic Plot: Documentary about the challenges facing marriage and relationships in the modern age. Taken from the Emmy-nominated series Song of Songs.
Outburst: As this is still a primarily Christian documentary, it deals solely under the premise that the viewer is looking for a monogamous, long-term, heterosexual marriage. No other relationship styles are really addressed in any fashion. Despite the removal of more blatant religious messages, it maintains a deep faith-based tone. As the documentary was almost exclusively videos of people talking, I was able to do other things while listening to it and don’t feel that I missed anything. The snippets of vocalized music during the interludes were made for this production and truly awful (think Christian rock run through a blender of folk music and crap).
— If you are willing to accept it as a faith-driven documentary on romance, there are some genuine pearls of wisdom here. It is not in depth or mind-blowing, but it is touching and makes nice background while carrying out your day at home.
Basic Plot: Reflecting on the fact that the average US prostitute enters the life at 13, this is a documentary following human trafficking and female child sexual exploitation in NYC.
Outburst: When a young girl doesn’t get along with her folks and runs away from home, she can’t legally get a job. She can’t legally find a place to live, and from there it’s an easy step toward an illegal occupation such as prostitution. If a pimp grabs her and makes her sleep with several men, would her parents even take her back once they find out she’s been tricking? If she goes to the police, she’ll probably wind up in jail for prostitution. And if no one loves her except her pimp, who do you think she’ll turn to for help? None of these tales are a surprise to me, but they may be a surprise to you.
NOTE: this only covers a subsection of sexworkers. Not everyone in sexwork is exploited, and many are boys or transgender.
— This documentary is probably best viewed in an activist setting or among a group of people who can discuss the film afterward. Viewing it with current or former folks from ‘the life’ is probably ideal.
Basic Plot: History Channel documentary covering tales from the life of Sun Tzu and his famous work, The Art of War.
Outburst: What can you learn about the Art of War in 94 minutes? Not much. King Halu of the kingdom of Wu got Sun Tzu to defeat the Chu. Sounds like a glossy, thin version of the truth. By necessity of time constraints, so is this documentary. It is a good place for beginners to start on the principles of war strategy.
— Newbies to the Art of War by Sun Tzu should pick up this documentary as an introductory study.
The complete title is:
The Human Animal: A Personal View of the Human Species.
Basic Plot: A six-part BBC documentary featuring Desmond Morris, based on his book of the same name. Human behavior is looked at from a purely biological standpoint.
Outburst: I found this fascinating. This is a lovely, if somewhat obscure and outdated, documentary. Desmond Morris is a familiar British voice to me. There is some nudity of the National Geographic variety and references to sexuality, drugs, and aggression.
/DVD — Biology, anthropology, and sociology nerds will adore it. If you believe in Creation Theory, you should avoid it like the Plague, er, I mean God’s Scourge of the Wicked. This is from the VHS era and copies are hard to obtain.
Basic Plot: This is billed as a historical documentary about the science of medicine and the mind-body connection, but it is really a biography of one rheumatologist’s fight with inflammatory arthritis.
Outburst: This woman needs practice doing voiceovers, because she seriously overemphasizes; I feel like I’m being read a bedtime story. Evidence presented here is sometimes anecdotal rather than scientific, some of the experiments look like the researchers are leading the subjects, and the documentary draws conclusions based on research projects that are not yet complete. Where is the science?
(0 stars) — Some of the research cited in this documentary is suspect. Watching this could be misleading and has the potential to be detrimental to people looking to improve their health.
Basic Plot: Three part documentary series covering the arrival of the Portuguese in Japan up to the arrival of Perry in 1854.
Outburst: Wow, I never knew America did this kind of imperialistic nonsense so close to our own Revolution — makes the setup for the World Wars seem inevitable. Shogun by James Clavell is one of my favorite books, so the historical truths behind the fiction (the character Blackthorne is based off of William Adams) gave me extreme déjà vu.
/DVD — Japan-ophiles will be in rapture. Lovers of Shogun (the book or the 1980 miniseries) will love discovering the true history behind this modern classic.
Basic Plot: This is a documentary piece about obstetric fistula in Ethiopia and the hospital that treats them.
Outburst: I magically pulled up this documentary on the same day I finished a book on the very same subject. Before the book, I’d never heard of fistula. I did not know of this ‘hidden’ epidemic or the suffering faced by these women. This was a the perfect film piece to complement the story.
— I firmly believe you should first read the book Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese before you see this documentary. Together, they will change your view of the world.
Basic Plot: Documentary following David Lee Hoffman as he seeks out handmade teas in China.
Outburst: The cinematography is very well done. I didn’t think I’d be able to sit through an entire documentary about tea (especially considering I’m more of a coffee drinker), but the story was actually quite engaging. Best served with a cup of oolong.
— This documentary will only be of interest to tea connoisseurs (or wannabe tea connoisseurs). The damp skylines of China will put non-tea aficionados into a drowsy state.
— Of ethnological interest. For everyone else, this is a yawn.
