Documentaries

[canadian_turtle]

I didn't think it'd be worth it to make separate topics for the below films I saw at the BFI last night as only a few people will probably see the same ones, hence a general "documentaries" topic so everyone who sees one in cinema can post their reviews here instead of making a new topic each time.

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Last night I saw The Devils Playground and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom at the BFI, both of which really appealed to me, albeit in very different ways.

The Devil's Playground is a documentary about Amish people, their beliefs, and particularly Rumspringa, the right of passage 16 year-olds go through where they are allowed to explore "English" (non-Amish) customs and luxuries before deciding whether they want to join the Amish church for the rest of their lives.

I've always been fascinated by Amish beliefs and customs and this documentary provided me with more information than I've ever seen or heard before which ensured that I was gripped from start to finish. As a film it was a bit all over the place unfortunately and even the ending didn't feel like much of an ending, but because of the rare insight it gave the audience into the Amish culture to me it was an incredibly fascinating documentary. 9/10


The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom is a documentary on the 2011 tsunami in Japan, the devestating effects on the country and people as well as the importance of the cherry blossom and the way Japanese people find hope in the flowering of this blossom which only lasts a few days each year.

The first few minutes of this documentary were more powerful than all the previous newsreports, articles and footage I've seen on the tsunami since it hit. It was absolutely heartbreaking and made me feel very emotional. When you read an article in the paper the vast amount of lives lost oftentimes just read like a meaningless number but zooming in on particular cases as this documentary did made it so much more real and horrible.

And the contrast with the beautiful cherry blossom - so cherished and loved that Japanese people hold special blossom viewing parties with children playing in the blossom "snow" - works extremely well for this film. A very moving and powerful documentary. 9.5/10

[jcolombi]

Really looking foward to the new Bob Marley documentry 'Marley' it looks really good!

[Snowwhite]

Really looking foward to the new Bob Marley documentry 'Marley' it looks really good!

Me too.

[jcolombi]

This looks awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbxkESLbM0