No End in Sight (2007)

No End in Sight is a documentary about the war in Iraq.  It addresses the event prior to the war, including military events during the 1990s.  It also talks about what happened during and after the war.  I chose to watch this because the Iraqi War happened when I was in high school and I didn’t pay a lot attention to what was going on.

I felt it was a pretty effective documentary.  Most of the interviewees were people who were directly involved with the conflict.  They talked about their experiences and gave the documentary clout.  The film was fair in what it was trying to do and I did not feel manipulated.  There were a few people who refused to be interviewed.  And there were one or two that, as the film would say, were in “the wrong” but they did not have much to say.

But, I thought it was extremely interesting to see who actually was in charge of things.  There were many people who were there to do good things and help out.  They were there in Iraq and saw what was happening.  But, it seemed like that all of the main people who made decisions did not consult with those who really knew.  They already had their minds made.  It strikes me as really odd that they were able to make those important decisions without having to consult with those who were there.

This is an important documentary because it looks at a major recent event.  And it handles truthfully.  However, I did feel it was a little boring.  But I feel that is more my own fault as opposed to the documentary as I am not much into politics.  The film had excellent footage that was shot during the military operation and had people who were actually there to interview; but it wasn’t my personal cup of tea.

Encounters at the End of the World (2007)

Encounters at the End of the World documents Herzog’s trip to the South Pole.  The film seemed to be organized chronologically, as he first does safety training then visits the different scientific camps.  The only connecting theme is that of nihilism.

I’m not too familiar with Werner Herzog, having only seen a handful of his films, so I am not sure how this theme is treated in his other works.  But in Encounters at the End of the World, it made for an interesting, yet complementary, contrast to the environment.  Some of the images he gives us, mostly those filmed underwater, are greatly beautiful, nigh unto inspiring.  It is images like these that Alma would give Korihor as a sign.  However, Herzog gives a nihilistic interpretation, saying that nature will eventually eradicate mankind, just like it did to the dinosaurs.  So, this film creates an interesting dichotomy.  But, on the other hand, some of the images illustrate this pessimistic thought.  Seeing the vast icelands to continue for miles creates in one a feeling of insignificance.  You can easily understand how someone can believe that nature will wipe us out.

I felt that Herzog was fair in how he presented his point of view.  Even at the beginning of the film, he did not want to make another film about penguins. (Though, when he does use penguins, he perfectly uses them to show the futility of life.)  He is interested in other things, such as why monkeys do not ride goats; he’s looking to answer greater questions.

I liked that he included interviews with some of the people who were there (even if he just paraphrased them through narration).  He could have easily just focused on the environment and the scientists who are studying it.  But he included pieces of “professional dreamers.”  It was interesting to see what kind of people were attracted to Antarctica.  It added a little something to counteract his nihilism.

Nobody's Business (1996)

          I had mixed feelings about Nobody’s Business.  I liked the style of it.  I found it interesting to see archival footage, along with home movies and photographs, paired with the interview.  This technique placed Oscar in a certain point in history.  It grounded his life in reality.  It made Oscar and others in his family real people, instead of just someone from a story.

          I also liked the rapid cutting, the sound effects and other similar techniques.  It made the film more lively.  I also think that it matched Oscar’s and Alan’s driven personalities.  However, I think it would have worked much better on a shorter documentary than a feature length one.  After a while, it started to get repetitive; it also started to lose its novelty.

          I also felt that the constant boxing footage was a little heavy handed.  It does set up the nature of the interview, which I felt was effective, but he overuses it.  I can understand once at the beginning and once at the end, but he uses it like three or four times.

          And I did feel a little manipulated with the interview.  Most of the time only the audio is used; we only briefly see Oscar.  I couldn’t help myself but think that Alan was splicing together sound bits, out of context, to get his father to say what he wanted him to say.  I am no audio expert, so I couldn’t tell for sure,  but I did recognize some parts that sounded like they didn’t go together.

          How the two interacted bothered me a little too, but that just might be how they naturally interact.  It seemed like Alan would raise his voice and “yell” at his dad to get a reaction out of him, like he was manipulating him.  Oscar also kept saying “I don’t care” or “I don’t know” over and over again.  Sometimes it didn’t feel natural.

          Overall, it was an interesting documentary with some good aesthetic choices.  But I felt that those choices would have worked better on a shorter film.  And I sense something fishy between Alan and Oscar, but that could be their natural relationship.