MIFF 2015 - Day 13
Hoo boy, three extremely heavy documentaries today.
A German Youth
A strangely constructed documentary about the rise and fall of the Baader Meinhof group in postwar Germany. It begins by setting the scene of a Germany wrestling with the guilt of the war and the divisions within the populace over that guilt. Then we're introduced to Ulrike Meinhof, a leftist journalist who appears on television programs and writes columns. We're shown short films made by students aimed at celebrating socialism and class consciousness, rebelling against teachers and authority in general. As we progress, we learn about how Germany made many forms of dialogue and protest illegal, banning street marches, prosecuting lawyers who defended leftists, etc. Slowly, the leftist students are pushed away from mainstream debate. And then they form the Red Army Faction and take to acts of violence to make their points. The film doesn't blink from the fact that they went from being articulate voices to angry terrorists. But it also examines the idea that when you take the voice away from someone you disagree with, they'll find another way to shout. The final scene is an argument between two people on what democracy is. It's fascinating, and depressing, showing the allure of fascism is its promise of order and comfort.
Only the Dead
This film will give you PTSD. Michael Ware was a journalist for Time magazine and CNN during the Iraq war. He carried a camera with him because it was more efficient than a notebook for recording what was happening around him. And out of the 300 or so hours of footage he took over the many years he worked in Iraq, we now have this harrowing film about a side of the war you may not have seen. He not only embedded with US troops, he also rode along with insurgents and learned a lot about the complex nature of the Iraq war. But the main point of the film doesn't appear to be about letting you know about that, it's about the horrors of war and what it does to a person, even a non-combatant. The film contains a lot of death, you see a lot of people die, and the horrors mount. This is a film about darkness, and how even good people can do awful things as war strips them of their humanity. It's a powerful film, and most definitely not for the faint hearted.
3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets
The murder of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn was a major case and a test of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" laws in relation to self defense. Dunn claimed that he asked for some kids in the car next to him to turn down their rap music, and they then threatened him with a shotgun so he fired 10 bullets at them. The only thing was, there was no gun, and he only claimed there was a gun after going to the police. He never told his fiance about a gun or claimed self-defense. The documentary follows the entire court case, and includes Dunn's calls to his fiance from prison. He honestly believes he acted righteously, but slowly it becomes apparent that he's convinced himself something different happened to allow him to live with himself. There's a lot of questioning of a culture that endorses killing rather than de-escalation as an acceptable answer to a tense situation, and the representations of black culture that create fear in others. While the film has the "happy" ending of Dunn being convicted on all counts, it leaves you with the deeper question of how the US has reached such a place where killing someone just because you're scared of them is even remotely considered defensible.
A German Youth
A strangely constructed documentary about the rise and fall of the Baader Meinhof group in postwar Germany. It begins by setting the scene of a Germany wrestling with the guilt of the war and the divisions within the populace over that guilt. Then we're introduced to Ulrike Meinhof, a leftist journalist who appears on television programs and writes columns. We're shown short films made by students aimed at celebrating socialism and class consciousness, rebelling against teachers and authority in general. As we progress, we learn about how Germany made many forms of dialogue and protest illegal, banning street marches, prosecuting lawyers who defended leftists, etc. Slowly, the leftist students are pushed away from mainstream debate. And then they form the Red Army Faction and take to acts of violence to make their points. The film doesn't blink from the fact that they went from being articulate voices to angry terrorists. But it also examines the idea that when you take the voice away from someone you disagree with, they'll find another way to shout. The final scene is an argument between two people on what democracy is. It's fascinating, and depressing, showing the allure of fascism is its promise of order and comfort.
Only the Dead
This film will give you PTSD. Michael Ware was a journalist for Time magazine and CNN during the Iraq war. He carried a camera with him because it was more efficient than a notebook for recording what was happening around him. And out of the 300 or so hours of footage he took over the many years he worked in Iraq, we now have this harrowing film about a side of the war you may not have seen. He not only embedded with US troops, he also rode along with insurgents and learned a lot about the complex nature of the Iraq war. But the main point of the film doesn't appear to be about letting you know about that, it's about the horrors of war and what it does to a person, even a non-combatant. The film contains a lot of death, you see a lot of people die, and the horrors mount. This is a film about darkness, and how even good people can do awful things as war strips them of their humanity. It's a powerful film, and most definitely not for the faint hearted.
3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets
The murder of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn was a major case and a test of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" laws in relation to self defense. Dunn claimed that he asked for some kids in the car next to him to turn down their rap music, and they then threatened him with a shotgun so he fired 10 bullets at them. The only thing was, there was no gun, and he only claimed there was a gun after going to the police. He never told his fiance about a gun or claimed self-defense. The documentary follows the entire court case, and includes Dunn's calls to his fiance from prison. He honestly believes he acted righteously, but slowly it becomes apparent that he's convinced himself something different happened to allow him to live with himself. There's a lot of questioning of a culture that endorses killing rather than de-escalation as an acceptable answer to a tense situation, and the representations of black culture that create fear in others. While the film has the "happy" ending of Dunn being convicted on all counts, it leaves you with the deeper question of how the US has reached such a place where killing someone just because you're scared of them is even remotely considered defensible.
posted by Andrew Lee at 11:45 PM
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