This Week In Documentary
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - April 12-18, 2024
Beware the Ides of April! — is something Americans surprisingly don’t say despite Tax Day falling mid-month. This would seem more relevant to us than a line from Julius Caesar, at least now that political assassinations in the U.S. are less of a concern. If you want some perspective on how much better the U.S. tax system is compared to say, Great Britain in the ‘70s, I recommend watching the Rolling Stones documentary Stones in Exile (available digitally via Apple and Amazon). My favorite income tax documentary, though, will always be The New Spirit, a 1942 animated short starring Donald Duck. Why it’s not on Disney+ is beyond me, but it can be found online.
As for dates this week that should be holidays, at least in Canada, March 16 is the birthday of Marcel Carrière. While he is also known as a director and a prominent figure within the National Film Board of Canada, Carrière is most famous in the documentary world as a sound recordist for such pioneering works as Les Raquetteurs and the masterpiece Pour la Suite du Monde, which he also worked on as a cinematographer alongside its directors and fellow Cinéma Direct originators Michel Brault and Pierre Perrault. Both documentaries are available to stream via the NFB website, as are a few shorts Carrière directed. For more on him and the Cinéma Direct movement (the precursor to Direct Cinema in the U.S.), check out our primer.
Other notable documentarian birthdays this week include Rithy Panh, whose films focused on the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide include Duch, Master of the Forges of Hell (on Kanopy), Graves Without a Name (also Kanopy), and the Oscar-nominee The Missing Picture (Kanopy and The Criterion Channel). His birthday is April 18. Blood of the Beasts (The Criterion Channel) director Georges Franju and Jia Zhang-ke: A Guy from Fenyang (Kanopy) director Walter Salles are both on April 12. Also, Mommy Dead and Dearest (Max) and Britney vs. Spears (Netflix) director Erin Lee Carr celebrates her birthday on Tax Day, April 15.
Onto our highlights of new and notable documentary films and series and our anniversary acknowledgments, all of which are available for free subscribers. As always, they are followed by our day-by-day release guide exclusive to paid subscribers.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: Salesman (1969)
Back to the subject of Direct Cinema classics, my pick of the week is an oldie but a goodie. In fact, it’s one of the best documentaries of all time and one of my personal favorites. The reason for highlighting it this week is that it turns 55 years old on Wednesday, and while that’s not a monumental anniversary, it’s a good enough cause to recommend one of the greatest. Besides, I don’t love any of this week’s new releases enough to spotlight it above the rest, so I’m using this opportunity to showcase Salesman. Directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin, the film follows four door-to-door Bible salesmen and makes that life and occupation look ironically about as enjoyable as a day in Hell.
I also think it’s a good time to look at Salesman because of the recent success of the dramatic series Feud: Capote vs. the Swans (which failed terribly in its attempt to mimic a Maysles film with its third episode). As I wrote a couple of months ago when that show began, the story goes that the Maysles brothers got the idea to do a feature film after the release of Truman Capote’s book In Cold Blood. They wanted to translate Capote’s concept of the nonfiction novel to cinema with a nonfiction film. Even though it’s an extension of the Direct Cinema movement, Salesman sheds the narration and interview elements (though some car scenes with “The Badger” come close) to simply follow its characters in the story, as Capote did with his. However, while nonfiction novels have a reputation for fudging some facts and dialogue to make them better reads, the filmmakers defended Salesman as entirely truthful.
I tend to see some of Salesman in every piece of media involving salespersons, whether that’s just a sign of its authenticity and the general sad reality of the job or because it has influenced fiction films made since (I’m not the only one who has thought of it while watching Glengarry Glen Ross). Of course, it has been directly referenced and parodied, most accurately in an episode of Documentary Now! where the item being sold is a globe instead of a Bible (it’s so perfect that it’s now included in the Criterion edition of the film). I think it is also the Maysleses’ purest piece of cinematic Americana in that it’s relatable even to those of us outside the sales profession. This is partly because it’s one of the few Maysles documentaries to not involve famous people or figures related to celebrities. That might make it less casually appealing to viewers today, and that’s all the more reason I’ll recommend it as often as I can.
Salesman is currently streaming on Max and The Criterion Channel, but you should really buy the Criterion Blu-ray and own it forever (would I make a good salesman?).
Other Documentary Highlights
Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) (2021)
For this week’s Doc Option, I recommend pairing a documentary with Alex Garland’s new dystopian feature, Civil War. Rachel Boynton’s Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are) is not similarly about a potential future second American Civil War (I have a feeling there is a documentary out there warning of that, though). Instead, it looks at the lasting effects and legacy of the war of nearly 150 years ago and how today’s Americans continue to view the conflict. Garland’s movie is a reaction to the increased divisiveness in the U.S., but Boynton’s documentary acknowledges that America is — in the words of Matt Zoller Seitz in his review for RogerEbert.com — “a country that broke apart and never really got back together.”
This Civil War can currently be found streaming on Peacock.
Conan O’Brien Must Go (2024) & Orlando Bloom: To the Edge (2024)
The latest two docuseries starring celebrities are a mixed bag depending on your interest in their respective hosts. Conan O’Brien Must Go is a travel series on Max in which Conan O’Brien visits fans he’s met through his podcast. I’ve only watched the first episode because I couldn’t take any more (and now I’m questioning whether I’d still love the documentary Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop). O’Brien’s approach and tone are almost entirely mocking or dismissive of cultures and specific people, which gets annoying quickly and makes it difficult to tell if anything is genuine.
Peacock’s Orlando Bloom: To the Edge is much more positive but I don’t get why we should care about following movie star Orlando Bloom in his attempts at free diving, wingsuit flying, and rock climbing. I’ve also only seen one episode of this one — the finale, which sees the actor team up with one-handed climber Maureen Beck as they scale difficult rock faces and formations in Moab, Utah. Beck’s story and triumphs are much more interesting than whatever Bloom achieves here, as are those of the other climbers with disabilities we meet: Justin Salas, who is blind, and Melissa Ruiz, who has Cerebral Palsy. But if you like Bloom and want to see him Facetime with fiancée Katy Perry as she screams how proud she is of him several times, this show is for you.
Both Conan O’Brien Must Go and Orlando Bloom: To the Edge begin streaming on Thursday, April 18.
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944) & The Cold Blue (2018)
Another one of this week’s films with a milestone anniversary — this more significant than turning 55 years old — is The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. It’s part morale-boosting propaganda film, part celebration of the titular B-17 bomber and its many successful missions during World War II, and its color cinematography shot during actual aerial battles makes it stand out. One of its cinematographers, Lieutenant Harold J. Tannenbaum, was even shot down in another bomber around the time of filming, and this stresses how dangerous the production was and why it should be recognized for its courage and commended for its completion.
The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress can be streamed on Max or MGM+ with a subscription or free with ads on Tubi. You should follow it with The Cold Blue, a companion film created by Erik Nelson in 2018 during the restoration of The Memphis Belle using footage that director William Wyler and his team didn’t include in the original. That semi-sequel is also on Max.
Our Living World (2024)
There’s another new docuseries out this week featuring a celebrity, but this one employs the star solely as a narrator. Cate Blanchett lends her voice to the Netflix nature series Our Living World, which concentrates on the many ways animals and their ecosystems are tied together for a complex global network consisting of food chains, circulating nutrients and resources, and more. Blanchett’s calm narration doesn’t quite fit the wow factor this show needs, making it a rather generic program despite how interesting it is. One Strange Rock (available on Disney+), narrated by Will Smith, did a better job with this type of material.
You can stream Our Living World beginning on Wednesday, April 17.
Resistance: They Fought Back (2024) & Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill (2022)
This week I reviewed two new theatrical releases, Resistance: They Fought Back, and Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill. The former is a Holocaust documentary about the Jewish resistance to the Nazis during World War II. The latter is a music doc about little-known ‘70s singer-songwriter Judee Sill. Both are your basic archival-meets-talking-heads documentaries with historical and biographical elements, and both are recommended despite their minor faults. For more details and critical thoughts on each, check out the latest reviews newsletter.
Resistance and Lost Angel are now playing in theaters. For locations and showtimes, check their official websites.
Sports Emmy Nominees
It’s time to honor achievements in documentary filmmaking again. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced their nominees for the 45th Sports Emmy Awards this week, reminding us to catch up with a lot of features and series that we might have missed. The biggest category for docs is Outstanding Long Documentary, and the contenders there are The Deepest Breath (streaming on Netflix), The Saint of Second Chances (also Netflix), Full Circle (also Netflix), Stand (Showtime via Paramount+), and Kelce (Prime Video). Kelce is also up for Oustanding Editing - Long Form.
Then there are the nominees for Outstanding Short Documentary: Dreamcaster (available on MSG Network and MSG+), the Extraordinary Stories installment One-Armed Wonder: The Extraordinary Story of Jimmy Hasty (UEFA.tv), the NFL 360 installment Gone (NFL Network), the NFL Films Presents film Lahainaluna High (FS1), and the SC Featured installment Nothing Else Matters (ESPN+).
Only four titles represent in the Outstanding Documentary Series category: Showtime’s Catching Lightning and Goliath, Netflix’s Untold, and Apple’s Super League: The War for Football. The Outstanding Documentary Series - Serialized category recognizes Football Must Go On (streaming on Paramount+), Formula 1: Drive to Survive (Netflix), Quarterback (also Netflix), Monster Factory (Apple TV+), and Training Camp With The New York Jets (Max), which is part of HBO’s Hard Knocks franchise. That last title is also up for Outstanding Camera Work - Long Form, Outstanding Writing - Long Form, and Oustanding Editing - Long Form.
Documentaries also showed up in other categories. Contenders for Outstanding Edited Event Coverage include the Davis vs. Garcia episode of Showtime’s All Access and Roku’s NFL Draft: The Pick is In. The Outstanding Journalism nominees include CNN’s Blindsided and the E60 episodes Peace of Mind: Psychedelics in Sports and The Perfect Machine, both from ESPN. And in the Outstanding Music Direction category, we find The Golden Boy (Max).
Finally, in addition to those nominees already named, the Outstanding Editing - Long Form category also features the Netflix series Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team while the Outstanding Writing - Long Form category also includes Showtime’s The World According to Football. There are other documentary-esque titles in other categories, and there are many films and series nominated for sound, graphic design, promotional, and other awards that are just too many to list here.
Documentary Release Calendar 4/12/24 - 4/18/24
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