***

Don’t Change the Subject- sp

This is a documentary about suicide, by a film maker who lost his mother to suicide when he was a young teenager. It seems to be his attempt to understand that tragic event in his life at the same time he is making film that he hopes will save some lives. Usually we don’t review films before they are ready to be released. In fact, the final edit on this movie has just been tweaked. It hasn’t hit the film festivals yet and a distribution deal has yet to be made. We hope in a small way, the availability of this review will help the process along as well as encouraging folks in the mental health community to consider using this film as a discussion tool at professional meetings and most of all to be used for educating the public.  According to the National Institute of Mental Health suicide is 10^th leading cause of death in the U.S. and the 3^rd leading cause in the age group 15-24. There are 11.3 suicides deaths per 100,000 people in this country. An estimated 11 attempted suicides occur per every suicide.

While these and other statistics are important, this film is not about numbers and risk factors. It is about real people who tell little pieces of their stories. It is about people who came very close to killing themselves but for some circumstance or reason didn’t do so. It is about the film maker who comes across as a very likeable guy who is trying to figure out why is mother, who he believed loved him, would leave him by her own hand. He reads her letters, listens to tapes of her talking, looks at old film clips and ponders this issue with his older brother, aunt and step mother who married his father after his mom died. His brother never understood how she could have done this when she was in the music business and knew how important was his debut as an opera director that was happening the following week. His aunt, who was a psychiatrist, knew her sister had problems but didn’t see this coming. His stepmother only recently reveals her own special connection with suicide. While the film maker may not have ever completely understood why his mother ended her life, he did realize that more then how she ended her life, she should be remembered for how she lived her life which included much love and support to her children. This message alone gives the film great value.

The filmmaker, Michael Stutz is also the director, writer and producer. He does goes beyond just his own story and some close up vignettes of people who struggle with depression and have come close to doing this fatal deed. He follows a talented choreographer who is preparing a group of young dancers to perform a piece about autopsies. The result is as dramatic as is the meaning to young performers who had to come to grips with what their dance was about. We are introduced to a fairly successful comedian who has a team of writers help him prepare his material that daringly enough is going to be about suicide. It is always tricky business when humor is touching a potentially raw nerve. You have to understand, as a psychiatrist I usually don’t even like it when people use the word “crazy” in stories or in every day life but I appreciated the use of humor in this film. In fact the highlight was a piece by a comedian who did a monologue as a character who was leaving a video to his family prior to his suicide. He said just about everything a loved one would dread that their family member who was ending their life might say about them and how the suicidal person felt about them. It brought me to out loud laughter and will be for me one of the most unforgettable parts of this film about a very serious subject.

I said earlier that I hope professionals will view and use this film in their efforts to prevent suicide. It is not because this film will necessarily educate my profession about suicide. It didn’t really examine the difference between suicide attempts and suicide gestures nor did it attempt to show the different psychiatric diagnosis that people who attempt suicide might have. In fact there wasn’t much of a psychiatric presence in the film. However it has the potential to be very meaningful to anyone who has struggled with suicidal thoughts, had fleeting suicidal thoughts or has been close to anyone who has had these issues. Unfortunately there are a great number of people in at least one of these categories. This film can save lives so it deserves to be seen and will be a worthwhile experience for many people. I don’t know yet when and how it will be distributed but more information about it can be obtained on the following website: http://www.dontchangethesubject.org/  (2011)

***

Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness-rm – If you only knew that Solomon Rabinowitz alias Sholem Aleichem had originated the story of Fiddler on the Roof, “that would have been enough.” However this documentary attempts to show how this creative Jewish writer born in Russia in 1860 singularly chose to use Yiddish, which was basically a spoken language of the shtetl and make it a literary form to educate and entertain thousands if not millions of people in Europe and the new world during most of his life time (and beyond). Yiddish was the special language of the Jews consisting of mixture of German, Russian, Hebrew and probably a lot more. It allowed more expression of feelings, especially humor and it was experienced as the language of the people. This fact plus the insight into the struggles and emotions of the people about whom Shloem Aleichem chose to write in a very prolific manner, made his writing very popular. This was the period of time when people living in their small enclaves began to migrate to the cities as well as across the ocean to America. When he died in 1916 there were more than 100,000 people at his funeral in New York which not only was viewed as a tribute to him but as a demonstration of the emerging Jewish culture in the new world.  This documentary while emphasizing his place as a writer and as a Jewish icon also provides some insight into the ups and downs of his life style, which included being a stock market speculator who ultimately failed in his financial dealings. It shows somewhat of a picture of his family life as a dedicated parent although it doesn’t say much about his wife and his marriage.  The visual story is made mostly with archived photos of the people of his time including what seemed to be a repetitive photo of him along with a few video clips- the most riveting being the one from Fiddler. This is an enlightening view of a person about whom so many of us have heard, but don’t really know. If it has not been done yet, a fictionalized version of this story with the details flushed out even more with some imagination, if necessary, will make a fantastic feature film. You can start speculating on who should play the lead. (2011)  

***

Thunder Soul – sp- This is a true story destined to be an American legend. An all black 1970’s Texas High School stage band with a music director, who could have been a professional musician but chose to teach and use music to change young people’s lives, becomes the “best band in the land.” They introduce the rhythms of funk music along with great body movements by the band as they present their powerful sound. They win all kinds of competitions and trophies including the coveted band competition in Alabama. They get invited to play in Europe and Japan where they received acclaim on a par with professional musicians. 30 plus years later filmmaker Mark Landsman is listening to NPR and hears the story of this band and decides he might want to make a documentary about them. He visits the now retired leader Conrad O. Johnson, known as Prof, in Houston and convinces him to tell his story as he constructs a documentary about that historical time in the history of of Kashmere High School and this band. Much to his surprise, he then learns that some of the old band members are planning a surprise reunion concert for old Prof who has had failing health. The film becomes about these now older band members who return to prepare for this get together all with heartfelt stories about how the Prof and the band had been so meaningful to them. There are film clips of the 1970s with many of the band members in full Afros and the band with its full rich sound. These mostly guys and some gals are older, wiser, larger but still remember how to play as they are whipped into musical shape by one of the members who has taken on the leadership role for the reunion concert. The views of the musicians now in their 50s along with the wonderful sound which they can still make is captured quite well. In fact the background soundtrack throughout, even when the band is not seen playing, sets the mood and the joy of the film. There are some wonderful clips of Prof as a younger man and now as his once young charges have returned to pay tribute to him. Jamie Foxx loved the film idea and took on the role of Executive Producer. We only wish that Landsman had chosen to tell us a little more about how the returnees had been impacted by their experience, which they all agreed, had changed their lives. Had any of them become professional musicians? Had they passed on this great musical experience to their children? While we suggested to Landsman that it would be great to see a little of this info in the credits, he felt that it was mainly about the music and the personal stories were secondary. He did drop the tidbit that he is working on a fictional version for a feature film, which I am sure, will be a great opportunity to fill in the blanks in this great story. (2011) 

***

the Freedom- sp– This is a very important film but it is not yet ready for prime time. The version we were shown is not the final cut as the filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Harrell Tickell are still tweaking this film. We hope it will be pared down a little and the message focused and sharpened.  The premise of this documentary is that there need not be a. hopeless dependency on oil in the United States. The answer is that with determination and fortitude, as was shown by our forefathers in the founding of our country and in dealing with so many other crises, we can free ourselves from the ever increasing obligation and desperate need for foreign oil. Furthermore, that we can do this without doing the “drill baby drill “ thing in our own land and water nor do we have to utilize the ever dangerous nuclear power . The film proclaims that we can  solve our energy problems by primarily using ethanol and other biodegradable energy sources. They attack the arguments that experts have made that say that ethanol takes food away from human, emits more greenhouse gases than gasoline. They show that it can even be made from waste and compared to gasoline is cleaner burning and reduces every single tailpipe emission. They make these type of arguments over and over again and use numerous people such as former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, as well as US Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and many others.  They make their case that we can do this and that we must do it. So this is an attempt at a strong educational documentary, which basically says we have been misled in this country by the right, the left and mainly by the ever present, ever powerful oil industry. They show how the oil industry argument can be taken apart whether it is made by their expert spokesperson or by a Professor at Cornell who doesn’t really think that Ethanol is the answer. So this is also a call for change, a call for banding together and a call for action. Unfortunately, this is the frustrating part of this movie. Assuming that you buy their argument or most of it, what are we to do? It is fine that we see the filmmakers driving around in their Ethanol burning vehicle. We are briefly told that for $80 we can buy a device for our car that will allow us to use various grades of Ethanol that are now available at some gas stations. This will “probably” be less expensive than regular gas. OK, I want to do it and try it but please tell me more about it and reassure me that it is safe for my car. Let’s start a movement so everyone who sees the film will do this and give us a sticker for our car that says we are part of the new movement (and publicize your film). There is no such energy coming from the film and I couldn’t even find more information about how to do this on their website which at the end of the film said if you want more information go to www.thefreedomfilm.com. The website  has some educational things but is mainly there to  publicize the film . We are also told in the film that we need to grow our own food, use solar energy and this will complement our new use of Ethanol. Jump to their web site – there is no data on joining the new “ Victory Garden Club” movement and no data and charts about costs and savings if we climb aboard with alternate energy. I know this is just a documentary film. It is really one voice against a very strong and persistent voice of the oil industry. However, I feel for the film to be successful it has to fully identify with the movement and try to jump-start the flow to Ethanol, which they claim is essential. For every one person who is moved to action by this movie, they will talk to at least ten people about what they are doing and that is how you get a buzz on the energy front and for this movie.

****

The Whistleblower-Sp  This is a documdrama about Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz)  a divorced policewoman from Nebraska who signed up with a company providing contracted services to the United Nations involved with peace keeping and training local police to investigate crimes in Bosnia shortly after the end of the war there. She comes to realize that young girls are being forced into sexual slavery. She discovers much to her disbelief that not only are local police involved by accepting bribes to look the other way while these young women are forced into prostitution but many of them are involved in the abuse of them. She soon further realizes that her fellow police officers of the international force contracted to work in Bosnia.  including the Americans  are deeply involved as are many of the diplomats all of whom have diplomatic immunity. Director  Larysa Kondracki co-wrote this story with Eilis Kirwan. They have been working on this project for 8 years since their Columbia Film School days. An all star cast of Vanessa Redgrave Monica Bellucci and David Strathairn bring top notch acting to this movie. Kondracki and Kirwan  chose to focus their story on the real person  of Boklovac whom they met in Holland where she now lives with her children and  Dutch husband whom she  met in Bosnia. The filmmakers describe how the film is quite accurate and if anything the abuse and maltreatment of the girls is minimized in the film compared to what really happened to them.  They chose to try to tell the story of this whistleblower character played by Weisz and also particularly bring to life one of girls who is an important part of the plot and who dared to speak against her enslavers and dearly paid for doing so.  As you understand how so many people are involved in what is a multi-million dollar or if not billion dollar industry of human trafficking, you realize how much danger Kathery Bolkovac is in. It is at this point in the movie which is not only is a social commentary on an important issue but it is now become an effective  mystery thriller. In the end the viewer cannot help but feel enraged and angry as well as enlightened.. Ms Kondracki shared with us that the office of the United Nations Secretary General is actually trying to decide how they should respond to this film and whether they will support it or speak out against it. This demonstrates how revealing and powerful this movie is as it depicts what was happening 10 years ago in Bosnia and which the filmmakers believe is still a major problem throughout the world. This is not a feel good movie and in fact is quite the opposite. But it is definitely worth seeing. (2011)

****

Inside Job-nf– Filmmaker Charles Ferguson takes a long, hard skillful look at the individuals and their actions which brought about the global economic meltdown of 2008. It is hard to come away from this Oscar nominated documentary without feeling some combination of anger and depression. Anger, because you see self-serving greed and even corruption among the financial leaders of this country. Depression, because you see that many of people in charge of our financial institutions today including many in the  highest positions in government are still not inclined to make changes to prevent  another financial crisis. If you can take a dispassionate view of this story, it feels as if you are watching a film showing you something about how the rise and  fall of the Roman Empire came about in some distant time. In this case however we are dealing with contemporary times. We learn how an economic boom led to a desire among those in the financial and banking industries to make  even more money as they transitioned from carefully investing their own money to going public and now risking other peoples’ money for tremendous payouts for themselves. The complicated concepts of derivatives is actually made sickeningly clear as we see how investments were really bets with essentially no clear downside for the bankers but devastating results for the middle class. No place was this more relevant  than in the home mortgage market where the financial guys would make their money on the volume of the mortgages sold and not on quality or  the ability of people who bought them to pay them off. Matt Damon is the narrator of the film although Ferguson does much of interviews. The film is interspersed with film clips of the leading players of this giant debacle from the officers of the big financial institutions to the well known faces in government including Paulson, Greenspan, Geitner and others with major government responsibility for regulation and policy. We see the story of the  march of deregulation from the Reagan, through the Bush years even including some during the Clinton White House. There is also  the apparent failure of the Obama administration , despite their bailout successes , to have regulated and overseen what should be regulated and overseen.  The lack of prosecution of some of the glaring criminal activities is highlighted and the obscene executive compensations, sometimes more than a hundred million dollars,  for people who participated in very questionable actions is spelled out. . (See an article MB wrote in the Huffington Post about this issue  over  a year ago). It is also quite disturbing to see the failure of he academic community to acknowledge the payments they receive from interested parties for their speeches and writings which supported the unstable financial situations that occurred. (These days the medical community is usually obligated to make disclosures of potential conflicts of interest  when speaking or writing ) Granted, the filmmaker is trying to make a point about the inside job, which was pulled off on the American people. There may be some other points of view, which he didn’t show but interviews made with top people, and the facts presented make it pretty easy to vote for conviction if we were the jury (even without cross examination from another viewpoint). Ferguson did have a great deal of access to top people some of whom asked him to turn off the camera once they were shown their inconsistencies. The movie is well edited to one hour and 48 minutes. Most of the film is sharp and well framed. When archival footage is used and it makes a point, you don’t mind if it isn’t top-drawer quality. Although a year old, it is still right on the mark for today. If you have a stake in this economy and the future of our country, you better understand what this film is saying. (2010)

***

Buck-sp– We came to this documentary film  knowing that we might not be the ideal audience for it since we are not big animal lovers or horse fans. Certainly the opening countryside scenery was beautiful and seeing the horses running free in the lush meadow was very attractive. Buck Brannaman, the main subject of this film is very appealing and has a commanding presence not only on the screen but in person as a guest at our screening. His sensitivity and ability to connect to horses is remarkable and has been a game changer in the approach to training them. He actually was the person about whom  Robert Redford fashioned his acclaimed movie, The Horse Whisperer . Reford appeared in this documentary and told how Brannaman is the real deal and ended up being more than the inspiration of  the script of his  movie but became a key advisor and actually was a his double in several scenes in which he did his magic with horses. The story hook of this documentary which caught our  attention was how Buck the man had started off as Buck the young kid performing in rodeos with his brother Smokey from a very young age with rope tricks and horse riding. Behind the scenes and at home their father beat them unmercifully. Ultimately Buck was placed in a foster home when outsiders discovered the whip marks on his body. Flash forward now to Buck working with a vicious angry young colt that can’t be controlled. Buck comes to understand the history of this damaged at birth horse which was treated badly by his owners and thus rather than attempting to dominate it, he tried to empathically understand it seemingly based on his own experiences. Obviously he can’t do this by psychotherapy and while we get some idea of his ability to communicate with the horse, it is something we, the audience have very little understanding of how he does it. He apparently has been very innovative with his concept of “starting” a young wild horse rather than the tradition of “ breaking” it. We wish that there had been more narration and explanation during  the somewhat repetitive scenes of working with the horses and training them. We saw many scenes with Buck holding flags in his hands and lightly touching the horses with them but we have no idea what that was all about. We also learn that Buck spends 9 months of the year driving around the country holding “clinics” and training people with his techniques while his wife during this time is raising their three kids- one of whom we meet as she is teenage horse women in the image of Buck. It would have interesting to learn more about all his kids and his wife who we briefly meet. In the Q&A period after the film in response to my questions Buck told us that Smokey his brother ended up spending 25 years in the Coast Guard certainly away from horses. The creative force behind the film and director of the documentary is  Cindy Meehl who is a horse owner and became inspired when she met Buck at one of his training sessions. She put together the private funding for her first film of any kind  as well as an experienced team that helped her make it.  The movie made it into the  Sundance Film Festival  and has been invited to film festivals throughout the US and the world. It certainly has made it out of the starting gate. (2011)

***

Page One: Inside The New York Times sp – The news media has been undergoing a radical change in the last few years. The new media and the blogosphere is rapidly competing as a source of breaking news. Advertising revenue has fallen as much as 30 % in the past year for many of the leading newspapers. Many newspapers throughout the country have closed. It is rare to have two major newspapers even in a  large city, let alone three of them. Filmmaker Andrew Rossi persuaded the venerable New York Times to let him spend close to a year to be essentially embedded, mostly in their New York headquarters, in order to make a documentary showing how they are carrying on their proud tradition in the face of all these changes. While he worked closely with his wife filmmaker Kate Novack, and a team of editors, it was Rossi alone who roamed the multileveled headquarters with his trusty camera on his shoulder. He was there when the WikiLeaks story broke and he was able to capture how the New York Times writers and editorial staff struggled with the ethics and ultimate decision to print the leaks  and how they became part of the story. He was filming at the staff meetings when the writers and editors were trying to figure out if the war in Iraq was coming to an end because NBC was breaking a story about departing troops but it wasn’t part of the US government announcements. The central character in the much of this documentary is NY Times writer David Carr who himself has a very colorful history, once being addicted to cocaine and now being a senior well respected, witty, crusty, very capable  reporter  who mostly covers media issues. The film shows us how he approached the big time story of the collapse of the well known Tribune media giant, its subsequent buyout by some non newspaper people who bled the organization, dismantled their ethical base and were running a corrupt unethical management team themselves. They ultimately resigned demonstrating the power and value of the New York Times, functioning at its best as it used all its resources to report this story. In the end we are quite enlightened about the changes in how we get our news and the choices we have. We are also quite impressed as we see the coming together in a working alliance of young new media people within the powerful “legacy” news organizations symbolized by the New York Times. Working side by side or cubicle to cubicle this new generation of Times men and women seem to be able to provide the leadership and a viable co-existence with the huge blogsphere that continues to grow. It is clear that everything will be different with each year or two and the concluding lines of the story have not yet been written, This documentary does capture this fascinating piece of evolving journalism in a verite style. It is somewhat choppy without a clear plot, which reflects the nature of the content. You may walk away from this film and say , “I sort of knew all this”  but for certain you will not take David Carr and his colleagues for granted any more. (2011)

***

How To Live Forever- sp– If only this documentary could really tell you how to do it or even come close. Director, writer and producer Mark S. Wexler who has also been a successful photojournalist as well as a documentary maker is the son of an award winning cinema photographer. He has used his own funds to make this film, which basically looks at old people and tries to explain what is their secret to a long life. He doesn’t really come up with an answer other than maybe they have a passion for living and don’t worry very much about dying. Perhaps the film could have used a better focus and a stronger point of view. We also found it very interesting that in all the interviews, the role of family never came up in the questions or in the discussion, nor were any children or grandchildren ever shown. There were certainly some unforgettable characters such as the 114 year old women from Indiana who was the oldest person in the world at that moment, the Senior Beauty Pageant and the efforvescent Ms. Arkansas who was competing for the national crown, the funeral directors conference in Las Vegas where the latest marketing ploys reflected the attitudes of the baby boomers about their mortality, the 93 year old guy in Oklahoma who would regularly eat a diet which is the antitheses of a healthy diet and a clip of Wexler with the unforgettable Jack LaLane who actually died this year at age of 96. The subtitle of this movie is “Results May Vary” and this  probably sums up how we think most people will react to this film. (2011)

*****

Exporting Raymond sp If you know anything about the Successful TV series  Everybody Loves Raymond , you know that the co-creator writer/producer of this classic comedy show that ran 9 seasons was Phil Rosenthal. So much of the humor of it came from the observations, sensibilities, family experience and sense of humor of this young man. Therefore when SONY pictures and the Russian TV network decided they wanted to make a Russian version of this hit TV series, they decided to invite Phil Rosenthal to come to Russia and advise the writers, directors and producers  how to pull it off. However, SONY also thought it would be a good idea if Rosenthal took a film crew with him to document the entire process. The result is a hilarious, insightful and very fascinating look at Russian television, Russian family life and the Russian sense of humor or lack thereof. It also shows how all of the above in many ways are quite different from it’s American counterpart but yet beneath it all are quite similar. The success of this very funny documentary (how often do you see a funny doc?) is Phil Rosenthal. He is not only the writer/producer/director and star of this masterpiece but it is his sense of humor and timing, which carries this film. He was present at our screening and claimed he had a great deal of luck and just happened to be there filming at the right moment. There were a few spontaneous encounters caught on film with Rosenthal’s parents and it was ELR all over again. The initial attempts to remake some of the original programs in Russian were wildly funny as the show was suffering in its cultural transplantation. The Russian writers, directors and involved in the making of the show were hard to believe but were quite real. There was the  humorless Russian network Director of Comedy. There was a costume designer who believed it was the purpose of a TV comedy to show great trends in fashion even when depicting a typical housewife cleaning her home. In the end Everybody Loves Kostya is now the number one TV show in Russia. This documentary will be released in April and may fall between the cracks but it should definitely not be missed. You will laugh, come away with not only a lighter heart but also with a depth of insight and respect for an incredibly complex process (2011)