Off Label

Off Label

Off Label (Directors: Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher): The most challenging film at this year’s Hot Docs was not a surprise to me. I’d seen the directors’ previous film October Country (review) at a Doc Soup screening back in 2010, and I was very curious how their very intimate, very personal approach could be brought to bear on the weighty subject of this film, the off label use (and abuse) of prescription drugs. Purely from an issue standpoint, this is an enormous and still growing problem in the US and likely elsewhere in the developed world as drug companies, in a quest for greater and greater sales numbers, begin relaxing the boundaries around drugs’ indicated uses. For patients, this can help alleviate symptoms of chronic conditions, but more often than not it leads to bizarre side effects or even addiction. And the real issue is becoming a health care system in which primary care providers (who used to be called family doctors) are too busy to talk to their patients, especially when it’s so much easier (and in many cases, lucrative) for them to prescribe more and more drug treatments.

All of which has made the film very difficult to write about for me. I knew Mosher and Palmieri wouldn’t be making a typical “issue doc” but what we get is so much more visceral. We meet a group of characters, all of whom have had their lives changed by “off label” drug use. From the synopsis:

Welcome to the strange pharmacy that is America. In Iowa City a 22-year-old army medic last stationed at Abu Ghraib prison struggles with the VA to find treatment to cope with PTSD. In Minneapolis a woman fights for reform after her son commits grisly suicide in an anti-depressant marketing study. In Rochester, Minn., a young vagabond couple pay for their wedding by doing drug trials for money. In Santa Cruz a woman takes 18 different prescriptions and lives in a roadside Bigfoot Museum. In Philadelphia an aging African-American Muslim recounts the horrific experiments conducted upon him while he was imprisoned and forgives those who destroyed his physical health. In Milwaukee an eccentric medical anthropologist tracks the course and influence of the drug market he once helped shape as a former drug rep for Pfizer. These are some of the stories collected in OFF LABEL — a look at life in the twilight zone of pharmaceutical drug consumption and American health care.

My first reaction upon seeing the film was bewilderment. There was an overwhelming sense of sadness in the film, but no real outrage. It was as if the problem was too big, the enemy too indefinable, to focus any energy into changing anything. And that made me angry. But upon a second viewing, the film’s value as a cri de coeur was driven home to me as I saw the connections between people and their stories. Connections forged by the film’s editing, but ones that seemed important to bring to fruition in real life. So many people in the film seem lonely and their drug stories seem like a way to get a handle on some of these feelings. For the ones who make money as drug test subjects, the film allows them to tell their stories of feeling marginalized and with few other options. For the mentally ill and their families, the film gives them a place to express their anger and grief at a health care system that has often failed them.

The film’s recurring musical cue is the Carter Family’s “No Depression in Heaven” which was recorded in 1936, during the Great Depression. The genius of using the song is that it ties together the current economic situation of many Americans with their state of mental health. Off Label is unlike any other documentary you’re likely to see dealing with issues of corporate influence and the state of the health care system. It doesn’t propose any easy answers. But this deeply humane film documents the often-painful stories of just a few of the casualties of today’s pill-happy medical culture, and it will leave a lasting impression, not unlike a scar.


oehttp://vimeo.com/37670570
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Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wild opens theatrically in Toronto on Friday July 13, 2012

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Director: Benh Zeitlin): Reactions to Benh Zeitlin’s first feature film have ranged from critical raves calling it a masterpiece to Twitter gripes that it’s nothing more than a swampy mess. In my opinion, it’s neither, but the handful of prestigious awards it’s racked up so far are by no means undeserved.

As a fan of Zeitlin’s 2008 short film Glory at Sea, (embedded below) I went in knowing what to expect. His blend of narrative lyricism and a rough-hewn, handmade style of art direction and filmmaking technique isn’t for everyone. Yes, there’s some shaky camerawork. Yes, there are lofty philosopical sentiments placed into the mouth of our 6-year-old protagonist. You’ll either trust Zeitlin and jump in with both feet or you’ll be turned off right away. If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll likely know which camp you fall into already.

For me, it was helpful to remind myself that the story belongs to Hushpuppy, a six-year-old girl trying to make sense of a very harsh environment. She might be unnaturally precocious and display remarkable strength, but she’s really kind of making it up as she goes along. Her lyrical voiceover is her attempt to forge some sort of world view, and though it’s impressively poetic, it’s also pretty simplistic. Reminiscent in many ways of David Gordon Green’s debut feature George Washington (2000), the film’s use of a child’s voiceover is likely to alienate some viewers by attributing a kind of folk wisdom to someone so young. But for me it mostly works, mainly due to the remarkable performance of Quvenzhané Wallis. This tiny powerhouse was just five years old when she auditioned, and if this isn’t one of the standout performances of the year, I don’t know what one would look like. Because the film is essentially her story, she needed to be very very good. And she’s even better than that.

She plays young Hushpuppy as someone discovering that the world isn’t such a nice place. She lives in a ramshackle community of eccentrics called The Bathtub that appears to be cut off from the mainland by a levee. While the mainlanders live in fear of storms and the water, the denizens of The Bathtub enjoy more holidays than anyone in the world. Every day seems like a party, and seen through a child’s eyes, these drunken fatalistic revels might seem like fun. As adults, we can see the darkness and desperation in these lives.

Her father Wink seems angry a lot, when he’s not distant. In fact, when he wanders off for several days leaving her to take care of herself, we don’t get the impression that this is out of character. But when he comes back wearing a hospital gown, Hushpuppy begins to worry. Added to that, the local teacher has no qualms about terrifying the children with stories about the coming storms. She even tells them about prehistoric beasts called aurochs frozen by the Ice Age into glaciers; glaciers which are now melting, by the way.

In the way that young children tend to do, when she realizes the “big” storm is coming, and that Wink may be dying, she connects it with something she’s done wrong. But because of her father’s relentless drive to toughen her up physically and mentally, she doesn’t shrink from the world’s brutality, but rises to meet it head on. It’s this core message that is most moving, even when the residents’ refusal to leave the flooded and dangerous Bathtub seems to make no sense at all.

“Strong animals don’t run away from danger,” Hushpuppy intones toward the end of the film. And she proves herself a strong animal, standing up quite literally to the beasts of the title. It’s powerful, but also terribly sad. She’s had the innocence kicked out of her at a much younger age than most kids do. Hushpuppy might be six years old but it feels like she’s never been a child.

I do have some problems with the film, chief among them its way of romanticizing poverty and disaster. Although he’s avoided most of the normal cliches of portraying residents of the bayou, he hasn’t been able to resist the dramatic pull of Katrina. The plot also goes seriously baggy about two-thirds of the way into the film, when Hushpuppy and some other kids find their way to a floating brothel in search of some motherly love.

But for a first feature, Beasts of the Southern Wild will put Benh Zeitlin firmly on the map of young American filmmakers to watch. If he’s able to fulfill his stated determination to stay put in New Orleans and resist Hollywood’s siren call, his next film will be interesting, if only to see if the filmmaker, like his characters, can forge a life after the storm.


oehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Gpz3gn0QA

oehttp://vimeo.com/10066407
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Sound of Noise

Sound of Noise
eOne released Sound of Noise on DVD in Canada on June 26, 2012. Help support Toronto Screen Shots by buying it on Amazon.ca.

Sound of Noise (Directors: Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjärne Nilsson): With a name like his, you’d think that Amadeus Warnebring would love music. But you’d be so so wrong. The police detective is in fact completely tone-deaf, despite being the son and grandson of musical geniuses. Even his younger brother is a famous conductor now, while Amadeus does his best to avoid family functions where musical performances are practically compulsory. Things are going along just fine until the day he’s called to an accident scene where officers hear an ominous ticking. While they are prepared to call the bomb squad, Amadeus recognizes the presence of a metronome. While the bomb threat evaporates, he’s drawn into something just as dangerous, at least for someone who hates music as much as he does.

Across town, we meet a band (yes, literally a band) of musical “terrorists,” six drummers who plot to unleash their quite literally titled composition “Music for One City and Six Drummers” which is introduced in a clever animated segment. Its four movements make up the set pieces of the film, and we shift perspective back and forth. Our sympathies alternate between the detective who just wants some silence and the anarchic and beat-loving musicians. At this point you’re probably thinking that Sound of Noise doesn’t, er, sound like any film you may have seen before, and you’d be right. This droll comedy from Sweden is one of the most unique and playful films I’ve seen in a long time, which is why it’s a shame that it never received a theatrical release here in Canada. The whole film bursts with rhythm, particularly in the excellent set pieces (which take place at a hospital, a bank, an opera house, and in a hydro field full of high-voltage wires) and it needs to be experienced with a good sound system.

Sound of Noise

Sound of Noise has elements of a heist movie, and even a bit of romance, but at its heart it’s a piece of performance art. The reasons behind the musicians’ plot are mysterious and irrelevant. Just enjoy the audacity (and absurdity) of their performances. At the same time, it’s easy to see why a distributor would have a hard time marketing a film like this one. But if you like music, and deadpan Scandinavian humour, and just the idea of people using non-musical objects (including an anesthetized hospital patient) to make music, you’re going to love this.

P.S. If you’re a short film lover like I am, you’ll be interested to know that Sound of Noise was based on the short film Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers (2001) by the same directing team and even the same cast. I’ve embedded it below the trailer.


oehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6ubqBBBiYY
oehttp://vimeo.com/7939104
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Marley

Marley

Marley (Director: Kevin Macdonald): While waiting in line before the Hot Docs screening of the Bob Marley bio doc Marley, it occurred to me how little I knew about the man, despite his iconic status and my having listened to his music for about 20 years. My lack of knowledge really became apparent just five minutes into the film, when I learned that Marley’s dad was a white Englishman. I was completely floored and somewhat embarrassed at not having known this, especially considering my own similarities to his background, as my father is also British and my mother is Jamaican (an informal poll of friends and family afterwards indicated the “white father” detail was news to almost all of them as well).

That there’s never been a notable feature-length documentary on the reggae superstar until now is hard to believe, although that’s mostly due to the tight reins that his estate keeps on the protection of his legacy. That all changes with Marley. His family were fully involved in its creation (son Ziggy is an executive producer), from giving interviews, granting director Kevin Macdonald carte blanche to Marley’s catalogue, opening up the musician’s archives, and enabling access to the most important people from Marley’s life who are still alive. Macdonald, who’s probably best known for directing The Last King of Scotland, makes the most of a lengthy 145 minute running time, constructing an intimate portrait of the reggae superstar that moves briskly.

Marley’s impoverished childhood in Trench Town, a development in the community of Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, is brought to life with an abundant number of archival photos, vibrant modern-day shots that juxtapose the island’s lush beauty with its abject poverty, and remembrances from his family and boyhood friends. A charismatic Neville Livingston (aka Bunny Wailer) recalls a youthful Marley’s struggle to fit in due to his lighter skin colour and entertains with stories detailing some early musical experiences the pair shared in the 60s, up until Livingston’s departure from The Wailers, Marley’s band, in 1973. Many other musical associates of Marley weigh in, including a number of former band members, Wailers artistic director Neville Garrick, and Chris Blackwell, who signed Marley to his Island Records label and opened up a worldwide audience to the musician. Rita Marley, his widow and a backup singer in his band, shares her feelings on their life together and her husband’s much-discussed womanizing, which she basically just tolerated while looking the other way (Marley fathered 11 children with seven different women). Two of those children, Ziggy and daughter Cedella, are interviewed and paint the picture of a loving dad who was also distant. The film also covers Marley’s devout Rastafarian faith, his role as a uniting force within Jamaican and African politics, the 1976 attempt on his life, Marley’s temporary exile to London in the 70s, and his last days before succumbing to cancer in 1981 at the age of 36.

Macdonald doesn’t break the music documentary mold with Marley, adhering to the standard structures of the genre. It’s the director’s unprecedented access to such a wealth of previously untapped resources, and his judicious use of them, that elevate this film to something truly special. More than 60 people were interviewed for the project and as informative as the contributions are from Marley’s fellow musicians, it’s the interviews with less obvious figures, such as Peter Marley (his white second cousin), Constance Marley (his half sister), Dudley Sibley (a recording artist and studio janitor who lived with Marley for a couple of years), and Cindy Breakspeare (Miss World 1976 and one of Marley’s mistresses) that notably help to humanize someone whose persona has taken on legendary proportions. Add in that obviously great musical catalogue from which to draw and Marley emerges as a veritable treasure trove for fans, as well as an important document of one of the 20th century’s most significant musical figures.


oehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvNlAZ3xqwI
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Detropia

Detropia

Detropia (Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady): Much has been written and said about the long, slow decline of Detroit and Detropia, from directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, weighs in with its perspective on this sad story. Shot over a two year period, Ewing brings a personal connection to the material as a native of the city and unsurprisingly, the documentary is a rather depressing viewing experience. The filmmakers present scenes of urban decay with loosely connected observations from residents bloodied but unbowed by the city’s deterioration, accompanied by an evocative and understated soundtrack, and some astonishing facts and figures. Once America’s fastest-growing metropolis, the Motor City’s population has dwindled from 1.8 million in the 50s to only 700,000 today, with an unemployment rate that’s officially listed at just under 30% (although it’s estimated to actually be closer to 50% by the mayor himself). The average price of a home in Detroit is just $7,100, down from $73,000 three years ago, and the number of abandoned homes and commercial buildings is in the high tens of thousands.

The most interesting character in the film is Tommy Stephens, a retired teacher and the owner of a struggling blues club. Stephens provides easygoing comic relief and a wise, pragmatic outlook on his city’s dire state. One scene featuring him wandering the floor of the North American International Auto Show effectively illustrates the shift in economic and industrial power from America to Asia, as Stephens amusingly marvels at how China can produce a hybrid car that has all the features of the newly unveiled Chevy Volt, yet costs significantly less. Scenes covering town hall meetings convey the anger of the weary residents, as they question the near-broke city’s drastic cuts to essential services like public transportation. George McGregor, a United Auto Workers chapter head, brings an insider’s viewpoint on the fragile state of his once-mighty industry. Other characters introduced and revisited throughout the film are a young blogger who writes about the city’s plight, young artists drawn to Detroit by its cheap cost of living, tourists gawking at the woeful condition of the city, and unemployed men who scavenge metal from abandoned buildings to make ends meet. Another storyline involves members and patrons of the Michigan Opera Theatre meeting at the Detroit Opera House to discuss the uncertain future of their organization. It’s an inspired choice by the filmmakers to try and show the contrast between affluent citizens concerned about the future of the high art they entertain themselves with alongside people struggling to provide the basics of daily living. The storyline fails to have its intended impact, however, and eats up far too much screen time with interminably long scenes featuring one of the theatre’s productions.

Considering how much I enjoyed Ewing and Grady’s last couple of feature-length docs, Jesus Camp and 12th & Delaware, as well as my fascination with Detroit’s story, I had very high expectations for Detropia. Instead, it turned out be the biggest disappointment of the nine films I watched at Hot Docs, failing to deliver as hard-hitting a portrait as I’d have hoped. The individual characters we meet produced spotty results in terms of engaging my interest level and the directors’ visual depictions of Detroit’s urban blight, while plentiful, neglected to draw me in and stir my feelings of empathy as much as a subject like this should. Detropia falls short of the quality I’ve found reporting on the subject from recent stories on 60 Minutes, long-form pieces in publications like Rolling Stone, and Julien Temple’s stylish Requiem for Detroit, a 2010 BBC documentary.

Detropia is scheduled to be broadcast later this year on PBS and receives a limited American theatrical release in September.

Official site of the film


oehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X1xZO95m2s
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