Oestre weekend saw many films pass in front of me (thank you rainy weather) and I am still thinking about www.manonwire.com . Superb filmmaking. Absolutely superb. James Marsh is my new idol. He's crafted a film unlike many in terms of form and content, reinventing storytelling for the documentary genre, and with relatively few credits to his name. I feel my theories about instinctive filmmaking are being proven by Marsh. Or maybe it's the editing background that lends to a director's eye? I can hope...
Now Religulous on the other hand...
I had high hopes for this film, as it is a topic obviously of interest to me, and full of potential. Lazy jump cuts, lousy journalism, and absolutely zero verisimilitude. Larry Charles took the words of his subjects and contorted this film into a one-sided narrative that rarely lets anyone speak but Maher. Only in a few moments is anyone actually allowed to discuss any of his points and the one time he was stooped (by Jesus, no less) he rebutted in the car the next day. Hardly fair?
Not that anyone can really disagree with his rant, but in this medium there are many more ways to make a point more powerfully than with an approach that can only be aimed at audiences already on side. And what's the point of that Bill? They wondered why they didn't win an Oscar? I'd say it was because their egos and budgets were too high to allow for the creative spirit to run through.
And so last week's announcement of the implementation of the plan for the Great Bear Rainforest was not smothered all over the news as it could have been. Yet we have now completed revision of the previous video we produced on the project 3 years ago for www.bcfii.ca .
