Individual Critical Reading
Reviews + Inspiration
The Cove – Filmed without a biased intent, because it explains two sides of a story; how they round up the dolphins so that dolphin trainers can take a select few, and train them for entertainment at Dolphinariums, and each dolphin is worth $150,000, therefore stimulating economy, and creating jobs. What it goes on to say, is that the rest are pushed around a peninsula to another cove, as closely guarded as Guantanamo Bay, to be slaughtered and sold as whale meat. It's an astonishing story, carefully told, and along the way we learn a great deal about greed, human nature, various kinds of private and governmental chicanery and the workings of a dubious and nefarious organisation, the Japanese-dominated International Whaling Commission.
THEORY - Richard Dyer: Utopian Pleasures/Solutions – Where a person craves a
certain need, and turns to the media to fulfill that desire. Whether
it be to experience a war scenario via a game, or to purchase a perfume and
feel more attractive, or perhaps even a pornographic desire
(Scopophilia/Voyeurism)
Home – Expository Documentary about Humans’ negative effect on the planet. This documentary tries against the “NIMBY” argument, making it "in my back yard." By allowing the documentary to be free and downloadable the doc is more widely seen, and the issue more embedded. By direct-cinema form, the documentary argues that the effects of Humans’ are worldwide and affect everyone. In the video, the diversity on earth is represented as well as how human life continues to threaten the balance of the planet. Used for non-profit, the documentary was sponsored by several well-known companies including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Puma and FNAC. The documentary was available in cinemas around the world on June 5, 2009, opening in 181 countries. Following its release date, “Home” was available for free release until June 14. “This movie has no copyright,” Bertrand said during a "TED" talk. “On the fifth of June the environmental day, everyone can download the movie on Internet. The film is given for free to the distributor for TV and theater to show it the five of June. There is no business on this movie. It is available for schools, cities, and you.” I think this is a wise marketing plan considering the point of the documentary. Also, I think maybe my group could draw upon this and use this idea in our projects. The theme portrayed throughout the documentary is linkage and that everything on earth is connected and no one organism can be self-sufficient. This idea of everyone being responsible for everything backs up the "imby" theory, and strengthens the impact factor for the doc. The beginning of the documentary shows the start of the natural world and how it all started as a chaos of fire, developing into volcanoes, showing the role of algae which later resulted in photosynthesis. “There is always the same quantity of water on earth,” which is stated in the documentary. Icebergs, oceans, the water humans consume, lakes and rivers this amount never changes. While negatively portraying what is happening on earth, “Home” also shows what man is doing to change it. This includes more education about global warming within schooling, more parks, and renewable energy.
A Film Unfinished - Yael Hersonski's A Film Unfinished is a remarkable holocaust documentary comprised primarily of previously unedited historic footage that was shot by Nazi filmmakers, ostensibly chronicling daily life in the infamous Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. In showing how the Nazi's manipulated information and public impressions about life in the Warsaw Ghetto, it reveals the tremendous power of media and the dangers of propaganda. The film reminds us that we must be continually wary of misinformation and disinformation.
The above documentaries are breaching audiences’ comfort zones by telling them the reality of their reality. Their dream of the world’s problems are “NIMBY”, when really, they are.
This breaks an audiences’ idea of escapism, to watch a piece of film to get away from reality and slip into an unconscious mind where they can relax and forget about the troubles of reality.
