Food for your brain, part deux - more documentary winners

Looking at the statistics for my various posts, and I do, it seems that the documentary recap for 2012 was very popular. I hope that's because people were interested in the topics and Netflix and libraries from all over are working overtime to fulfill requests for the DVDs. The following movies won Best Documentary (long or short form) from 1972 - 2009 (not all inclusive).

Marjoe, Best Documentary Feature, 1972

Some of you may recall Marjoe Gortner from his time as an evangelist, or perhaps from his B-movie roles from the 1970s and 1980s, but it's far more probable that most of you do not remember him at all. I think that's one of the great things about documentaries, you don't actually have to have knowledge of the subject matter to appreciate or even enjoy the movie. The documentary follows Gortner as he works his way through revival tents and churches throughout the U.S. He is an extremely charismatic and likable and you can see how people got caught up in his act; it wasn't always an act, but at some point Marjoe admits it is a performance and a way to make money. I found it a compelling film, even forty years later.

Harlan County, USA, Best Documentary Feature, 1976

Barbara Kopple directed this documentary about a coal miners strike in Kentucky; she also directed American Dream which will be covered a little later. I think these days unions and the role they play is uncertain, the benefits that they can bring (safer working conditions, fair and living wages) versus the politics and reputation of widespread corruption. I don't think this movie or American Dream answer those questions for the viewer, and I do not think that is the point. It does make you think, and I thought, and still do, that people who do jobs like go hundreds of feet underground, potentially risk their lives so we can have fuel, deserve some kind of protection and decent wages, and there is probably a bias towards those results. Kopple shows the work the men do (it is a male-dominated field at this time, but also the importance of the women in the strike), how the families scratch out a living, and also how they live, the culture of that part of the country, including, and maybe especially, the music. I am not a huge country or bluegrass fan (typically), but I wanted to hear more of the music. It is definitely representative of that part of the country. This is a part of our history that, while it happened during my lifetime, I was too young to form any memories, but I feel like I should be aware of what happened. I think it's important to see this film and I'm glad I did (I actually saw this before I started my list).

Scared Straight, Best Documentary Feature, 1978

I think this movie should be called Scared Shitless, because quite frankly, that's what it did to me. I was an adult when I watched it, and I was nowhere close to being on the wrong side of the law, so maybe I was not the intended demographic. However, I think it showed what prison could be like to teenagers who are too cool for school. I'm sure the inmates went a little over the top, but I am really not going to tell any of them that. Thirty plus years later, there are opinions from law enforcement and judicial authorities that this type of 'presentation' to teens does not work (information from Wikipedia on their article on Scared Straight); see what I mean about me being the intended audience? So, should you see it? I do not know. It may be of interest from a historical perspective (what was considered acceptable and successful back in 1978, what could we do differently in the 21st century?). If you have limited time and want to limit how much you feed your brain, you can skip this. If you like, email me, and I can just yell at you and say really bad words.

Best Boy, Best Documentary Feature, 1979

This is a documentary where the film maker has a direct and real life connection with the subject. Ira Wohl made this film about his mentally-challenged cousin, Philly Wohl, and how Philly and his aging parents cope with his disability, and their plans for the future. They realize Philly needs to learn some life skills and Philly goes to a special school to learn those skills. I liked this documentary for several different reasons: it shows the main 'character' and his family as they are, flaws and all; there were definitely times I thought, well, I would never do that; I felt like Ira tried to be a film maker, but this is also his cousin and aunt and uncle, and he clearly has some ideas and perhaps thoughts on resources that may help the family; and also, it presents a glimpse into what it was like to have a mentally-challenged adult child in the late 1970s, and the viewer can ponder how things have changed, if they've changed, etc. I think they have changed, with so many work programs and other social programs available to families. But that's just my opinion. Wohl doesn't paint a little Mary sunshine picture, but I choose to think it's got hope. And spoiler alert: Philly is now in his 80s.

American Dream, Best Documentary Feature, 1990

American Dream is the second Barbara Kopple film in this section. It is the story of the strike against Hormel Foods, based in Austin, Minnesota between 1985 and 1986. I found this movie interesting for a couple of reasons: I live in Minnesota now, I moved here roughly seven years after the strike; I have a vague recollection of it, and for a while after I moved here, there were still references made in the press about the strike; and while the main story is about the strike, it is also about the inner-workings and in-fighting between the local union and the national leadership. Again, Kopple and her team of co-directors, do a wonderful job of making this a human issue; there are families affected by these decisions and choices. As I have learned living here for twenty years, many of my fellow Minnesotans have lived here for generations, many on farms or have made their living in agricultural work, and it is not walked away from lightly. There is not a happy ending to this story, but you don't watch documentaries for happy endings, you watch them for a well-told narrative and the human story.