Author Archive for Jay Kerr

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia

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Jay Kerr
on April 19, 2008
in Documentaries, Film Festivals and Hot Docs
. 0 Comments

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia

The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia (2002, Director: Jennifer Baichwal): In 2002, Jennifer Baichwal directed this fabulous film about Shelby Lee Adams’ controversial photos of the poor people in the Appalachian Mountains.

Adams was born in Kentucky and has spent 30 years documenting and photographing the poor families in the various hollers of Appalachia. He’s become very good friends with some of these families and has completely gained their trust.

Most of us would look at Adams’ photos and describe the people in them as hillbillies or “banjo people”, straight out of the film Deliverance. Is he trying to exploit them or is he merely documenting their way of life?

The subjects in Adams’ photos feel that his work is harmless and a true representation of their culture. As a viewer, you get the sense that Adams truly feels he is documenting the Appalachian way of life. Several art critics featured in the film feel otherwise. Adams stages some of his photos and uses theatrical lighting to great effect. His work is incredibly beautiful, complex, and more fine art than documentary photography.

He’s exhibited his photos around the world, sold prints and published many books about the Appalachian people. He’s become very successful and made a good living by being a photographer. Baichwal doesn’t make any judgements in the film. But at a Q&A afterward, she questioned how people at a Berlin gallery of Adams’ work would read his photographs while sipping champagne and eating smoked salmon. They’re probably going to see the stereotype instead of the friendly people that Adams has gotten to know over the years.

I haven’t mentioned the slaughter of a hog, the practice of snake handling, pipe smoking grannies, inbreeding and the high mortality rate up in the Appalachian hills. For that, you’ll have to watch the film and it’s a good one.

9/10(9/10)

Behind the Glass

Published
by
Jay Kerr
on April 19, 2008
in Documentaries, Film Festivals and Hot Docs
. 1 Comment

Behind the Glass

Behind the Glass (2008, Director: Gabriel Rhodes): I wasn’t aware that this was screening with Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D (review) but I’m glad it did. Director Gabriel Rhodes created a fantastic little film about a dying breed — the film projectionist.

Rhodes took 7 years to complete this 22 minute documentary. He interviews an interesting bunch of film projectionists who simply love celluloid. James Bond from Chicago stands out in the film because his name really is James Bond and he’s the best in the industry. In the Q & A after the film, Rhodes mentioned that James Bond has worked with George Lucas in the past.

Gabriel Rhodes does an excellent job of introducing several projectionists from around the US with interesting and unique stories to tell. Their jobs are changing as more theatres introduce digital projection. This film captures the end of an era that will be of interest to any cinephile.

Behind the Glass was shot on 16mm film.

8/10(8/10)

Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D

Published
by
Jay Kerr
on April 19, 2008
in Documentaries, Film Festivals and Hot Docs
. 1 Comment

Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D

Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D (2008, Director: Sia Tu): At first glance, this appears to be a film about an artist who has a passion for 3-D photography. Unfortunately this film is more about Hai “Daddy” Tran’s lifelong obsession with photography and its impact on his family.

Tran is an interesting subject for a film. He’s charismatic, passionate about photography and he runs a vintage camera store in an industry that is dominated by digital cameras. He loves to collect things and not just a few — thousands of cameras and lenses, jewelry, lights, lawn ornaments. Every door inside his house has multiple locks. It takes four keys just to get inside his house!

I found Hai Tran to be more a lovable eccentric than a true artist or photographer. I was hoping this film would be a little more along the lines of What Remains (2005) or Manufactured Landscapes (2006). Tran appears to be more of a holiday snapper than a photographer. I guess this is why the film focuses more on his obsessions and character rather than his photography.

Daddy Tran: A Life in 3-D is an average documentary film for me. The production values could have been stronger and I found that the same photos were being used repeatedly in different parts of the film.

I might have enjoyed the film a little more if:

  • the projectionist didn’t stop the film 3 minutes in because it was being shown in the wrong aspect ratio
  • the film didn’t stop 10 minutes later because it was missing the subtitles
  • director Siu Ta brought the correct version of the film and checked it before the screening

Siu Ta wanted to cancel the screening and reschedule it for a later date! Thankfully an audience member persuaded her to just show the film. She used a microphone and translated parts of the film while it played.

Watching this film was probably the most unique experience I’ve had at Hot Docs. What made all of these glitches ironic was that it screened with Behind the Glass (review) — a film about projectionists and their importance in the presentation of a film.

6/10(6/10)

Captain Mike Across America

Published
by
Jay Kerr
on September 12, 2007
in Documentaries, Film Festivals and TIFF
. 1 Comment

Captain Mike Across America

Captain Mike Across America (Director: Michael Moore): Michael Moore’s latest film received a standing ovation at the Ryerson Theatre last Friday.

Republicans will see his latest work as a propaganda film and some Canadians will call it a complete pile of rubbish. Democrats will love the film and see it as the truth that has been suppressed by the media. This Canadian found it very entertaining.

During the last American election, Moore travelled the country encouraging younger people to vote and more importantly, to vote Democrat. His visits to colleges across America became known as the Slacker Uprising Tour.

He takes the usual cheap shots at Bush, shows a number of Bush bloopers and invites musical guests to entertain the slackers (Eddie Vedder, Joan Baez, Steve Earle, REM and others).

One of my favourite moments in the film comes when Moore holds a press conference. He points out that he had the courage to bring up the weapons of mass destruction lie, at the Oscars several years ago. He goes on to lambaste the reporters for being lazy and not doing their jobs — which is investigating the truth instead of being a propaganda machine for the White House.

He argues that Americans should be able to sit at home, eat a bag of Tostitos and get the truth for free on the evening news. Instead, he argues that Americans had to shell out 10 dollars to get the truth in from his film Fahrenheit 9/11.

As Moore went across the southwest in 2004, it was amazing to see how Republicans tried to shut him down. One businessman offered $100,000 to a student group to not invite Moore to their school to speak.

Moore failed in helping to get Kerry elected but he succeeded in getting younger voters out to the polls in record numbers. For Democrats, Moore describes the film as “a cure for the hangover that followed” the 2004 election.

When asked if Moore would do a follow up to the film he said “no”. Moore claims that his life was threatened a number of times. At one event a guy allegedly got up on stage and tried to attack Moore with a pipe. At another event, somebody pulled a knife and while in Fort Lauderdale a man tossed a cup of hot coffee on Moore.

Love him or hate him, his films are entertaining. The audience at Ryerson couldn’t get enough of his stories. The film will have a limited theatrical release in North America according to Harvey Weinstein who was in the audience. Following that will be a DVD release which will include a lot of extra footage and a show Moore did in London shortly after 9/11. My guess is that all of this will come out next year just before the election (depending on how the Democrats are doing in the polls).

7/10(7/10)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Published
by
Jay Kerr
on September 11, 2007
in Film Festivals and TIFF
. Closed

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Director: Andrew Dominik): This is a very mediocre film. It’s a great example of how TIFF looks for anything with a big star to sell tickets, draw crowds, create meaningless buzz and satisfy autograph hounds. My curiosity got the better of me and I was there looking at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the red carpet.

Tony Scott and Ridley Scott were executive producers and couldn’t save this film from being too long and at times, quite boring. Director Andrew Dominik could easily have cut 20-30 minutes but maybe the producer, Brad Pitt, wouldn’t let him? Even the music score from Nick Cave sounded repetitive and lacking some spark.

The great Roger Deakins was the cinematographer but I felt completely uninspired by the visual style he brought to this film. He does a nice job of making Alberta look like Missouri but that’s it.

On a positive note, the film is actually perfect for Brad Pitt who plays Jesse James. James was the biggest celebrity of his day, so casting Pitt in the lead role works quite well. Casey Affleck as Robert Ford plays a wonderful weasel — the best performance in the film.

There is a bit of violence in the film that startled a few audience members (people saying, “oh my” and “dear God” out loud). The crack of a pistol in one scene caused the woman in front of me to recoil in horror. I’ve never seen anyone snap their head back so fast. I really thought she was going to end up in the seat behind me. This gave me the best chuckle of the evening.

I don’t know. I think the direction and the screenplay by Andrew Dominik was the missing link to a great western. I had high hopes for this film and left disappointed.

Trailer
Official Site

5/10(5/10)