Two fantastic documentaries that you might not be able to see...
I went to the Sidewalk Film Festival this past weekend and saw some amazing documentaries.
the first, 10 MPH, documents two guys disenchantment with their corporate identities (or lack there of might be a more precise way of putting that). The drudgery of working day to day as a cog in the corporate machine that is Microsoft (they never say Microsoft but its implied) eventually drove them to quit their jobs, and head out on a roadtrip. A friend of mine made the observation in his blog review of "Little Miss Sunshine" (which is fantastic by the way) that the roadtrip is the great american metaphor for personal change. I don't think I'd ever made that connection before but after reading that its painfully obvious to me now... even in Dumb and Dumber their roadtrip was for the sake of personal change. Anyway it wasn't so much the roadtrip that made this doc. great, it was the means by which they hit the road. Not in cars, a Volkswagen van (ala Don Miller and the Little Miss Sunshine gang), but on Segway's. That's a rock and roll attitude if I've ever seen one.
The guys set out from Seattle and make their way to Boston over the course of 100 days all the while relying on the hospitality, and charm I would add, of complete strangers to make their trip and their movie happen.
I keep telling people that there is just something about this movie that resonates with me. This generation of people I think are terribly disenchanted with the corporate world, where there is no value on individuality, the only identity that you are to have is the brand of your employer, and the knowledge that any day without warning you could be axed and no one would think twice about it or remember you. There is something dehumanizing about the corporate world... I think of it that way at least... (and yes I realize there must be good corporations, but there must be bad ones too) I think that the reason this movie resonates so much with people is that these two guys are doing what everyone disenfranchised by the corporate world wishes they could do... get out of it and do their own thing.
In fact that was pretty much the theme of the movie, "what's your thing?" For each town they came to there was a quote on screen that kind of defined the attitude of the person that you, the viewer, was about to meet. It told you a little bit about what their "thing" was. For almost two hours you meet people doing their thing and loving life because of it. It really was great to see people from so many different walks of life enjoying life, because they were doing something they loved, or believed in.
I did think also that this it would be easy for people to leave thinking that all work is bad and that the only way to really feel alive would be to quit your job and take a roadtrip. But the fact is, work is great... Its God ordained and people should do it. (Even in the garden God told Adam to work...pre-fall) But the it is also a fact due to the fall work will suck a lot of the time (futility is the theological word I think). I think the felt presence of that futility in work is why people are going to relate to this movie, but I don't think the answer to overcoming that futility is to quit working all together. It may me a shift in where your work is going... like these guys, they didn't stop working all together, they shifted from making software to making movies. IM sure there is even futility there, but I bet for the most part they enjoy it more than what they were doing. All in all I think its a movie that is telling people that they should do what they love, and have the gumption to take a shot at doing it, weather that be in their working life, or in the life that working affords them.
The second doc I saw, Darkon, is very similar in heart to 10 MPH but that's about it. Darkon, to the best of my knowledge, is a fictional land (kinda like middle earth) and in the fictional realm real people dawn the personas of fictional characters of their own choosing and get together to form fictional societies and wage wars and form alliances against and with other fictional societies for ultimate control of Darkon. ...make sense??? good. (I don't feel like trying to explain it any better because there are more interesting things to talk about here... just google "larping" if anyone is interested in knowing the rules)
As far as production value goes, this was way up there. They apparently rented a helicopter for a day or so and got plenty of aerial photography that was just beautiful. The battle scenes had more in common with Braveheart than the average doc. (even though you could see cars and soccer goals in the background) And after comparing the trailer to the finished product... kudos to the colorist. This movie just flat out looked nice.
Also the filmmakers did something that I love in documentaries... left out the narrator. Im a pretty firm believer in the fact that if you need a narrator to carry the story (as opposed to just letting the people tell their story in their own words) there isn't much of a story there. Sure there are exceptions, but as a general rule I hate narration in any movie.
So yes, technically it was well executed, but I think it also has a lot of heart. For almost two hours I sat and laughed at these guys beating each other with hand crafted nerf weaponry, for control of imaginary hexes on a fictional map. They took it so seriously, why? And as some friends and I left we talked about why. It seems that the wonderful warriors and wizards of Darkon yearn for the same things the rest of us do. To have a part in something larger than ourselves, to be recognized for our roles in that, to feel accepted, and to have a place where we can thrive. It is just unbelieveable that these guys are pursuing these things in such an odd ball way. But for me seeing such strange ways of seeking fulfillment of these desires makes me realize how driven by the same desires I am. I felt a strange kind association with these warriors. I want the exact same things they do, possibly even more, and what's worse, Im not even really doing much about it.
There is a lot to think about there.
Also I started drawing parallels to Darkon and religion. I kept thinking to myself why would people be so engaged in something purely fictional. I guess people think the same thing about religion... why are people so devoted to something so intangible. In Darkon I can see the appeal, as weird as that may sound, there are real people there, you can touch and see them (especially when they are running full speed at you with their double handed black swords). You can actually have real interaction with them (real in the sense that it is happening... not real in the sense that Lothar and Kildor are actually going form some kind of lengendary alliance) I kind of get the appeal. Anyway Im not making any claims here or anything just blabbering about some stuff I thought was interesting.
Hope everyone will one day get to enjoy these movies... come on Netflix, don't fail me now.
the first, 10 MPH, documents two guys disenchantment with their corporate identities (or lack there of might be a more precise way of putting that). The drudgery of working day to day as a cog in the corporate machine that is Microsoft (they never say Microsoft but its implied) eventually drove them to quit their jobs, and head out on a roadtrip. A friend of mine made the observation in his blog review of "Little Miss Sunshine" (which is fantastic by the way) that the roadtrip is the great american metaphor for personal change. I don't think I'd ever made that connection before but after reading that its painfully obvious to me now... even in Dumb and Dumber their roadtrip was for the sake of personal change. Anyway it wasn't so much the roadtrip that made this doc. great, it was the means by which they hit the road. Not in cars, a Volkswagen van (ala Don Miller and the Little Miss Sunshine gang), but on Segway's. That's a rock and roll attitude if I've ever seen one.
The guys set out from Seattle and make their way to Boston over the course of 100 days all the while relying on the hospitality, and charm I would add, of complete strangers to make their trip and their movie happen.
I keep telling people that there is just something about this movie that resonates with me. This generation of people I think are terribly disenchanted with the corporate world, where there is no value on individuality, the only identity that you are to have is the brand of your employer, and the knowledge that any day without warning you could be axed and no one would think twice about it or remember you. There is something dehumanizing about the corporate world... I think of it that way at least... (and yes I realize there must be good corporations, but there must be bad ones too) I think that the reason this movie resonates so much with people is that these two guys are doing what everyone disenfranchised by the corporate world wishes they could do... get out of it and do their own thing.
In fact that was pretty much the theme of the movie, "what's your thing?" For each town they came to there was a quote on screen that kind of defined the attitude of the person that you, the viewer, was about to meet. It told you a little bit about what their "thing" was. For almost two hours you meet people doing their thing and loving life because of it. It really was great to see people from so many different walks of life enjoying life, because they were doing something they loved, or believed in.
I did think also that this it would be easy for people to leave thinking that all work is bad and that the only way to really feel alive would be to quit your job and take a roadtrip. But the fact is, work is great... Its God ordained and people should do it. (Even in the garden God told Adam to work...pre-fall) But the it is also a fact due to the fall work will suck a lot of the time (futility is the theological word I think). I think the felt presence of that futility in work is why people are going to relate to this movie, but I don't think the answer to overcoming that futility is to quit working all together. It may me a shift in where your work is going... like these guys, they didn't stop working all together, they shifted from making software to making movies. IM sure there is even futility there, but I bet for the most part they enjoy it more than what they were doing. All in all I think its a movie that is telling people that they should do what they love, and have the gumption to take a shot at doing it, weather that be in their working life, or in the life that working affords them.
The second doc I saw, Darkon, is very similar in heart to 10 MPH but that's about it. Darkon, to the best of my knowledge, is a fictional land (kinda like middle earth) and in the fictional realm real people dawn the personas of fictional characters of their own choosing and get together to form fictional societies and wage wars and form alliances against and with other fictional societies for ultimate control of Darkon. ...make sense??? good. (I don't feel like trying to explain it any better because there are more interesting things to talk about here... just google "larping" if anyone is interested in knowing the rules)
As far as production value goes, this was way up there. They apparently rented a helicopter for a day or so and got plenty of aerial photography that was just beautiful. The battle scenes had more in common with Braveheart than the average doc. (even though you could see cars and soccer goals in the background) And after comparing the trailer to the finished product... kudos to the colorist. This movie just flat out looked nice.
Also the filmmakers did something that I love in documentaries... left out the narrator. Im a pretty firm believer in the fact that if you need a narrator to carry the story (as opposed to just letting the people tell their story in their own words) there isn't much of a story there. Sure there are exceptions, but as a general rule I hate narration in any movie.
So yes, technically it was well executed, but I think it also has a lot of heart. For almost two hours I sat and laughed at these guys beating each other with hand crafted nerf weaponry, for control of imaginary hexes on a fictional map. They took it so seriously, why? And as some friends and I left we talked about why. It seems that the wonderful warriors and wizards of Darkon yearn for the same things the rest of us do. To have a part in something larger than ourselves, to be recognized for our roles in that, to feel accepted, and to have a place where we can thrive. It is just unbelieveable that these guys are pursuing these things in such an odd ball way. But for me seeing such strange ways of seeking fulfillment of these desires makes me realize how driven by the same desires I am. I felt a strange kind association with these warriors. I want the exact same things they do, possibly even more, and what's worse, Im not even really doing much about it.
There is a lot to think about there.
Also I started drawing parallels to Darkon and religion. I kept thinking to myself why would people be so engaged in something purely fictional. I guess people think the same thing about religion... why are people so devoted to something so intangible. In Darkon I can see the appeal, as weird as that may sound, there are real people there, you can touch and see them (especially when they are running full speed at you with their double handed black swords). You can actually have real interaction with them (real in the sense that it is happening... not real in the sense that Lothar and Kildor are actually going form some kind of lengendary alliance) I kind of get the appeal. Anyway Im not making any claims here or anything just blabbering about some stuff I thought was interesting.
Hope everyone will one day get to enjoy these movies... come on Netflix, don't fail me now.
I saw Memento a while back and enjoyed it. anyways.. I think you may be on to something Jason.
Posted by
jeff |
4:39 PM
I loved the trailer for Darkon. I was so interested in the comment the guy made at the beginning: "Everyone wants to be a hero, but in real life, we spend our time either doing nothing or being a victim." That's something to think about.
Su
Posted by
susan |
3:10 PM