Into the Fall

What little I watched this summer is on this list.

All the Way – 2017 (3.2). Movies made from stage plays are often a bit static, but this film defies its stage origins. Bryan Cranston gives an awesome performance as LBJ pushing Congress to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The humanity and profanity of President Johnson are on good display along with his empathy, self-doubt and prodigious political ability.

Hannah Arendt – 2012 (3.0). Quite a bit of research paid off in accomplishing the difficult task of making an entertaining and thought provoking movie about a brilliant German-Jewish professor in the US who was an early exile from Germany and then from a concentration camp in France. The film wisely concentrates on four years of her life, when she covered the Nazi Eichmann trial in Jerusalem and eventually wrote about it in The New Yorker and in a book and then had to weather enormous criticism for her portrayal of Eichmann as a thoughtless bureaucrat mindlessly following orders and for her questioning of whether Jewish community leaders could have done more to protect their people. More of a thinker than a feeler, Arendt failed to properly account for the emotional weight Holocaust survivors were carrying. A great philosopher of political theory, she did significantly contribute to discussions which remain highly relevant. The DVD has some very good special features.

Joe's Violin – 2016 (3.0). This short documentary briefly introduces us to two people in NYC, a 91 year old Holocaust survivor and a 12 year old Hispanic girl attending an all-girl school composed of mostly children of immigrants. The man donates his violin to an instrument drive for school kids and the girl is chosen to have the use of the violin for one school year. His love of the instrument and music is wrapped in family memories, especially of his mother who died in the Holocaust. Her love of music is genuine and deep which is why she was chosen to have the use of this beloved instrument. When the two eventually meet, the connection is immediate, heartfelt and inspiring. 

The Vietnam War – 2017 (3.0). This ten part documentary telling of the story of the US involvement in the Vietnam War should be considered definitive, at least by those interested enough to take the time to watch it all and digest what is being documented. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick worked for several years putting this series together, using much historical footage (some of which includes enactments) and interviews with various participants, all woven together by effective narration. The interviews with Americans give the sweep from their initial involvement and then all the years that have passed with new information about the war and more time for contextual reflection. With the help of a Vietnamese producer, the interviewees also include Vietnamese who were involved in the war from three different elements, North Vietnamese Army, South Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong guerillas. Even for someone who lived through the time and has followed events closely, the film includes new information and perspectives, especially from the Vietnamese. This series documents that the war was a huge mistake and those who prosecuted it for the US knew that it was going to be a loser, but still persisted. Sadly, the lessons taught by the war have not been well learned and this series will probably not do much to change that.

Trumbo – 2015 (2.9).  Bryan Cranston augments a good script in portraying Dalton Trumbo as he takes on the HUAC and is blacklisted and convicted of contempt of Congress. We see the pressures he faces at home, the turmoil the witch hunt created in the Hollywood community and the clever workarounds Trumbo concocted for himself and his fellow screenwriters. Some actual news footage is seamlessly incorporated.

Everything is Copy – 2015 (2.8). Nora Ephron was a well-regarded magazine essayist before becoming a movie director. This nicely paced documentary by her son chronicles both careers and includes personal biographical materials, all presented through home movies, archival footage and lots of interviews with family and colleagues.

Kubo and the TwoStrings – 2016 (2.8). Five years of animated stop motion filming combined with computer techniques to tell an epic story enmeshed in Japanese culture is an impressive effort. The resulting film about the young son of a deceased samurai who goes on a quest to find the lost armor of his father is quite showy but the exact meaning of the quest is not particularly clear, especially for young audiences.

Last Men in Aleppo – 2017 (2.8). This intimate documentary follows a group of "white helmets", self-appointed rescuers, Syrian men from Aleppo who respond to bombings and use their knowledge of construction trades to dig survivors from the rubble. Over some years, we meet the individuals, see them interact, watch them in action and in moments of contemplation, despair and recommitment. There are no interviews with other talking heads and no political views other than condemnation of Assad and the Russians.

Prime Suspect:Tennison – 2017 (2.8).  Shown to Brits as Prime Suspect 1973, this six part prequel shows us Jane Tennison when she first joins the police force while still living with her parents. She is a natural cop and is so good looking that her boss can't resist the mutual attraction. An early ethical challenge affords an opportunity to prove she is a loyal team member or to take the high road. An ongoing case leads to catching bank robbers in the act, with devastating results. No word yet on whether there will be a second season.

Shalom Italia – 2016 (2.8). Three surviving Jewish brothers, born in Italy and driven with their family during WWII first from their Florentine home, then from a small town and finally into hiding near a small village in the hills, decide to go back to the village and look for the cave where their family lived for a time. We travel with them in this documentary and watch the men as they try to sharpen their recall, re-experience the Italian life, philosophize, bicker and complete their quest. We learn once again how fragile and personal memories are and how revisiting those by talk and by travel can be an emotional journey.

Tribal Justice – 2016 (2.8).  Tribal Judges on two Indian reservations in California are followed as they work with tribe members who have run afoul of the law, both on and off the reservation. Both Judges are women, one with considerable experience and one fairly new. Dealing with repeating patterns of addiction and low aspirations, the Judges adopt a more mentoring approach to help the offenders deal with their personal problems.

Captain Fantastic – 2016 (2.7). In this drama, a father raising his six kids off the grid in the Pacific Northwest learns that his hospitalized wife has died. Her father tells the man not to come to the funeral or he will have him arrested. Of course the man and grieving kids do travel to and attend the service, leading to strange confrontations with the "civilized" world and the family of the deceased woman. Unfortunately a very important part of the movie was never made, the story of how the couple decided to live off the grid in the first place and the conflicts they had in their relationship in doing so.

Denial – 2016 (2.7). The problem with this movie about the libel suit brought by a Brit historian holocaust denier against an American historian who calls him a liar is that the script is unfortunately clumsy. The true story calls for a concentration on the British law of libel, the legal tactical decisions of the defense and the presentation of the case in court, which is more appropriate in a documentary film or in a miniseries. In making it as a feature length drama, the script writer has to decide on the major area of concentration, and the script for this movie settled for touching all areas without any concentration.

Lili – 1953 (2.7). Young Leslie Caron embodies the role of the naïve orphan who finds a home with the circus where she talks to puppets as if they were real people. Her acting is the highlight with her dancing playing a lesser role.

Presenting Princess Shaw – 2015 (2.7). A young African-American woman from an abusive background writes and records songs on YouTube. An Israeli video artist composer likes her work and puts it into a video with some of his own musical ideas. We see her struggling in her life and him working on a kibbutz. Eventually they meet and her dream of performing on stage is met. The movie mostly follows the singer, so we get to know her much more than we do the quiet Israeli. The filmmaker says her posting on YouTube was like a message in a bottle thrown into the sea. Though she is quite sincere in her singing, she does not seem to have star potential. It would have been nice to know more about the Israeli.

Hitchcock/Truffaut – 2015 (2.7). In 1962, Alfred Hitchcock granted an extended interview week to the fast rising young film director Francois Truffaut. In spite of the need for a translator, the two men hit it off and Truffaut recorded 27 hours of conversation covering in detail the art and craft of cinema in general and of Hitchcock in particular. Truffaut published a book presenting the interview with numerous pictures from Hitchcock films. This documentary took on the task of presenting the story of the two men and that week in less than 90 minutes. The movie is a decent introduction to the book, especially for film students and cinephiles.

Raising Bertie – 2016 (2.7). Six years in the lives of some young boys growing into men in rural Bertie County, North Carolina are documented in this movie. The cycle of poverty, incarceration, lack of education and absence of male role models swirls around them. Stern but overworked mothers do the best they can and one local woman starts an alternative high school that shows promise, but the odds seem stacked against these fellows.

Remember Me – 2014 (2.2). The BBC wasted talent and resources for three episodes of this drivel about an elderly widower who escapes from a nursing home after a woman dies a mysterious death. There is a scary Indian woman ghost who may think she has a good reason for doing bad things. The investigating detective ultimately decides he doesn't care about solving the murder. The potential series viewer would be well advised to make the same decision before starting to watch.