#3
Samsara
I didn’t review Samsara, but I wrote about it after being blown away in the only way it should truly be seen… on the largest screen possible.
Like Baraka and films such as Koyaanisqatsi before it, Samsara is a completely wordless documentary that tells its story through images and in that respect holds a close relationship with my #1 documentary of the year. Director and cinematographer Ron Fricke tells a tale of our world today, where we’ve been and where we’re headed with such eloquence you don’t ever feel as if you are being bombarded with a message as much as you are coming to terms with reality.
Shot over five years, in twenty-five countries on five continents, Samsara is truly majestic. Unfortunately most won’t get the opportunity to see it on the big screen as I did, but even on the small screen it should manage to have an impact.
#2
The Queen of Versailles
Talk about an out of the blue stunner, The Queen of Versailles is a documentary that touches upon nearly every emotion possible while painting a perfect picture of the flaws accompanying the exploitation of the American dream.
The film begins with a focus on billionaire Âtimeshare mogul David Siegel and his wife Jackie (44 years his junior) and the construction of the biggest house in America, a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot mansion inspired by Versailles. When asked why he’s building the massive estate, David replies, “Because I can.” Unexpectedly, while making the documentary, director Lauren Greenfield finds this tale of extravagance soon turns into a riches-to-rags story as the economic crisis hits and the Siegels find their lifestyle taking a bit of a turn.
This is a couple that’s easy to look down on. You could easily call them the 1% of the 1% and look at Jackie’s shopping addiction and roll your eyes. As time wears on David refers to Jackie as just another child and while that may seem harsh, soon you’ll see David’s frustrations reach a tipping point as he comes home to find every light in his 17-bathroom house on and the front door open. Jackie’s response, “It wasn’t me.”
Seeing Jackie at a rental car desk and asking the employee the name of her driver only to receive a blank stare is priceless. But Jackie’s upbringing and good heart makes it impossible to completely dismiss her and not feel sorry for their predicament even though you feel, at the same time, they deserve most of what they’ve wrought as David says they are where they are due to lenders getting him addicted to cheap money.
It’s a fascinating character study of both the characters on screen as well as yourself. To completely bask in the misery the Siegels suffer is to harden your own heart at the same time and that internal conflict was entirely unexpected.
#1
Chasing Ice
Yes, Chasing Ice is a film about climate change. Yes, it presents global warming as an undeniable fact. Yes, no matter what side of the argument you fall on you simply must watch it. This isn’t Power Point presentations or an endless stream of statistics and computer models. Instead National Geographic photographer James Balog takes to Iceland, Greenland, Alaska and Montana to photograph the shrinking glaciers using time lapse photography. The images he captures are stunning in both their glory and sadness as a vital piece of our world is slowly melting away.
The score from J. Ralph is wonderfully effective and just as I say Samsara needs to be seen on the big screen, I can only imagine what this must have been like as I was resigned to watching it at home on a screener.
Where the Academy went wrong in leaving the four films above from their shortlist they were absolutely right to include this one.
