Olympia 1. Teil - Fest der Völker (1938)

So the Olympics are going on right now, and I'm not watching them but I am reading a bit about what happens.  I don't think Brazil should have gotten the Olympics, they have a lot of problems there.  So I thought I would do the next best thing and watch a documentary about the Olympics.

However, the movie was made by Nazis.  I don't want to watch the Olympics in Brazil, but I don't want to watch a Nazi documentary.  So we may as well talk about a documentary about the Olympics made by Nazis.  Now no one is happy.  But, it's one of those films on the list we just have to get through.  And we will do our best.

Today's film is Olympia part 1. Teil - Fest der Völker.  The first five minutes is nothing but smoke and statues of Greeks, showing the perfection of the naked body.  Then, it finally transforms into living people.  They're men who are for the most part naked participating in the ancient games.  You can really tell a woman wrote and directed this because opening with this many men is pretty excellent.  There are mostly naked women present in the film as well, but I'm not really paying attention to that.

Then, we see the running of the Olympic torch, something we have seen a lot throughout the years.  The running of the torch was actually invented for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and still continues to this day.  Next comes the Opening Ceremony, where each country marches in with their flag.  Some nations raise the arms in a Nazi Salute in support of Germany, and some do not.

The majority of the film is pretty dry, very similar to watching the Olympics on tv today.  However in 1936 they didn't have tv so watching this must have been pretty exciting for them.  The announcers provided excellent commentary, unlike the NBC announcers we have here.  They are just awful.  We do get to see a lot of action from Jesse Owens, the fastest man in the world at the time.

If you'd like to see how the Olympics were performed a long time ago, this film would be ideal for you.  I enjoyed the historical aspects of it and will give this film a 7/10.  

Gimme Shelter (1970)

Today's film is Gimme Shelter, a documentary about one of the greatest rock n roll bands of all time, The Rolling Stones.  The first half shows them making an album and features a lots of great songs everyone is sure to recognize.

The majority of the film focuses on their quest to make a free concert to mimic Woodstock.  The problem is that you can't recreate outdoor festivals because they're all different.  Also, they planned to do it at the Altamont Speedway in California.  There was a lot more drugs and violence at this concert than Woodstock.

Instead of hiring a security firm or off duty police officers for their concert, The Rolling Stones decided to hire the Hell's Angels as their security.  This was probably not the best idea.  However, they did do their job.  One Hell's Angel stabbed a man, but film footage reveals he had a gun drawn and could have easily shot a performer or an audience member.

The crowd was so wild and out of control at this concert.  It's like they had no respect for anything.  This year, I was upset that my husband would not take me to the local outdoor concert because he thought it would be too dangerous for a pregnant woman.  During the Altamont concert, four women gave birth!  60s women are hardcore!

This is a good documentary for us to see a historical event as it happened.  This concert showed the end of the Woodstock-hippie era.  Everyone thought that the hippies would usher in a time of peace and love and harmony.  But the Altamont concert proved that nope, people are still assholes.  If anything, the film shows lots and lots of good music.  It's like listening to an album and watching a film at the same time.  I will give this film a 7/10.

Sherman's March (1985)

Today's film is Sherman's March.  If you are looking for an educational video about the civil war, you need to look elsewhere because this doesn't really have anything to do with the civil war at all.

If you are not familiar with Southern history, during the civil war General Sherman was a man who took it upon himself to burn the entire state of Georgia.  So he's not well liked around here.  A filmmaker, Ross, decides to make a documentary based on him, but his girlfriend leaves him right before.  This begins a journey of cringeworthy desperation.

As someone who has lived in the South my entire life, these 80's Southern folks are legit.  Most of the filming was done in Georgia.  He seems to be surrounded by a specific group of people.  This particular group is large and very vocal (read: loud) but they by no means represent all of the South.  They are loud, backwards, racist, religious, conservative, and hope for the apocalypse (or Rapture or whatever words they want to call it).  I went to my in-laws church several times and that is all they preach about.  We went to my husband's grandmother's funeral and right by the gravesite, the preacher spoke about the glorious end of the world for an hour.  The entire funeral no one mentioned his grandmother or her accomplishments.  I mean, she died because she was a drug addict so don't feel too bad, but they could have bullshit something nice about her.  It's not just a hope for a rapture, it's the desperate need, the longing for, a rapture that is a huge part of these people's lives.  This film was made in 1985 and nothing has changed at all in the South.  Nothing.

The majority of the film is creepy and pathetic.  He goes from woman to woman, desperately trying to get them to be his girlfriend.  He films one woman doing squats for a while, chases after old high school flames, and even finds a woman on a remote island.  He asks one woman, "Why don't you love me?"  That is so pathetic.

This film is honest.  It is real.  And it is everything that is wrong with the South.  Everyone in this film should be ashamed of themselves.  I will give this a 7/10.

Nuit et brouillard (Night and Fog) (1955)

Today's film is a documentary called Night and Fog.  It shows the history and aftermath of the Holocaust.  This film manages to deliver in 30 minutes what other documentaries take 9 hours to achieve.

The film alternates between the color film of the present, and black and white film of the past.  It shows how the camps were built, and what happened in those camps.  The man providing the voiceover commentary actually was a prisoner inside one of those camps.

One interesting thing is that this documentary doesn't provide any personal sob stories.  Over 9 million people died and we can't hear all of their stories.  The film shows the gas chambers, ovens, and piles of bodies.  When the Allies came in to liberate the camps, they didn't know anyone's story.  All they saw were the piles and piles of dead bodies and that was enough.  With this film we see exactly what they saw.  So it's like going back in time with them.

The film says that the prisoners were distinguished by their uniform, but doesn't go much further into it.  That's because the filmmakers wanted us to know that it was more than just Jews that were killed.  The filmmakers also said that this was an allegory for the French invasion of Algeria and they didn't want to favor any particular race.  That's why some of the camps they filmed were in France.  I remember that we watched Schindler's List in school, and I wish they would make students watch this film too.  It was very informative and emotional.  I will give it a 9/10.

David Holzman's Diary (1967)

Today's film is David Holzman's Diary.  This film is of great historical significance because it features the world's first vlogger.

David wants to make a video diary about his life.  He has lots of neat equipment: a videocamera, sound recorder, and microphone, all adding up to 19 pounds he carries around everywhere.  This is very interesting because we can see how far technology has come.  I can film myself on my iPod touch, which has a much better camera and weighs less than a pound.

The problem is that David has nothing to say.  He wants to film himself and his girlfriend, but she is having none of that.  He disrespects her wishes and films her asleep, so she leaves.  So now he's all alone.  Lots of people have vlogs now.  They can be about anything.  It can be about someone's interesting life, a journey across the country, raising kids, or hobbies.  But David's blog is literally about nothing.  In the end, he realizes this and gets frustrated with himself.  He doesn't properly lock up his equipment and they get stolen while he is out of town.  So that's the end of the movie.

This movie may seem like a documentary, but it's actually a film with a script. The people are just actors.  It looks realistic so I will give it a 6/10.

Les maîtres fous (1955)

Today's film is Les maîtres fous.  I have been thinking about this film for over a week, which is sort of a half documentary-half fiction movie.  My main question is: what was the filmmaker's intention in making this?

The film starts off with showing off the town and various jobs people do.  Then it shifts to a remote location where everyone gets high and becomes "possessed" with the spirits of various European conquerers (occupiers).  They cook a dog over a fire and eat it and then do other random things.  Then, their high wears off and everyone goes home to their normal day jobs.

When this film first came out, it offended near everyone.  It offended the African viewers because it portrayed them as exotic and wild, full of strange rituals Europeans can't understand what with all their technology.  It offended the European colonists because the actors were mocking them under the guise of being possessed.  It was banned in various countries across Africa.

After watching this film, I went to Jean Rouch's website to find some answers.  I still don't understand the purpose of this film.  Being a fictional documentary, I have no idea what is real and what is not.  Am I supposed to learn about the people of this country from this film or is this all fake?  I got absolutely nothing out of this film.  I will give it a 3/10.

Deseret (1995)

Today's film is Deseret, a narrative of the history of Utah.  There are no actors, no lines, no scenes.  Just one man, Fred Gardner, reading summaries of various news reports about the area ranging from 1851-present day.  It starts off in black and white as we learn about the Mormon settlers and their fights with Native Americans, other settlers, and the government itself.  Later, Utah becomes a site for nuclear weapons testing.

While Gardner reads these accounts, we are shown various landscapes, everything from scrub-filled deserts to beautiful rock formations.  Then, we see mining and other industries emerge.  This documentary reminds me of Koyaanisqatsi, which also showed only landscapes and buildings, except that one didn't have any narration.  I learned a lot about Utah today, but I didn't find this documentary interesting or visually stimulating at all.  I will give it a 4/10.

Grey Gardens (1975)

Today's film is Grey Gardens.  It's a documentary focusing on two women living in a decrepit old mansion.  Edith and her daughter Edie (or Little Edie) live together and are totally codependent on each other.

Edith is 79 years old and her daughter is 56.  I couldn't spend a whole day with them, because their lives are pretty boring.  Edie constantly talks about her past, how great it was, who she could have married and what she could have been.  She blames not being able to accomplish anything on her mother, who wouldn't let her.  Truth is Edie is the laziest person I have ever seen.

Their mansion, Grey Gardens, is falling apart and filled with bugs, raccoons, and cats. Neither woman will clean or fix up the house.  Two reasons: they don't know how and they are above menial tasks like cleaning and cooking.  They come from an era where they were recognized as high society and still act like it despite the lack of money.

This documentary was interesting but kind of boring.  I only halfway enjoyed it.  Therefore, I will give it a 5/10.

Koyaanisqatsi (1982)

Koyannisqatsi is a visual, nonverbal film. I chose to review this film because it was the longest word I have ever seen. It is supposed to be an environmental tale, but falls flat.  I can see what the filmmakers were trying to do, but they fell short of my expectations.

The worst part was the music.  Definitely.  I thought about watching the again with different background music to see if I felt differently about the film.  The first part is a gentle flowing music that sounds just like Tetris.  Odd, but I was okay with it because I like Tetris.  The next part was horrible loud digital repeating music.  It sounded like a casino or arcade with all of the machines blasting their tinny music, their loudness competing with one another.  It reminded me of when I was younger and worked for a year in an arcade.  I almost went insane because of the noise.  The music of this film was so awful I literally got a bad headache from it.  About an hour in, I gave up and turned the sound off.  I didn't have a choice.  The film got better after that.

This film is environmental propaganda.  But it doesn't do a very good job.  What do they show, a projects building being demolished; a highway system?  Come on, it is so obvious they were too lazy to leave West part of America for any of their shots.  Show the devastation to the land a factory farm causes.  Show unsustainable fishing methods.  Show that giant ball of trash in the ocean!  Show cute ducklings covered in Exxon oil.  Show something.  I'm not impressed.  I felt absolutely nothing from the images on the screen.

I was disappointed with this film.  I was expecting an environmental tale featuring the beauty of nature versus the destruction of man.  All I got was a few shots of the desert and some buildings.  They could have shown the beautiful forests of America, or our beaches and mountains, not some lifeless barren deserts.  I'm giving this film a 5/10.

Las Hurdes (Land Without Bread) (1933)

Today's film is Las Hurdes.  Is this the world's first mockumentary?

The "hurdanos" live in an isolated region of Spain.  They have a great tradition of cutting off upside-down roosters' heads for reasons that are unclear to me.  Further in the valley, bread is unheard of except for those children that we are watching eat bread.  The children must eat the bread in view of their teacher, otherwise their parents will take it away from them.  As a mother, how dare those children eat bread.  Who do they think they are?

Look at these jerks eating bread like they're all that.

The hurdanos are a resourceful people, walking for miles to gather leaves to sleep on.  The area is rich with walnut, olive and cherry trees, and yet nothing grows here because the soil is bad and that's why everyone is starving. Riiighttt.  They almost never eat meat, except when this happens -*goat randomly falls off cliff*.

Also, everyone drinks dirty river water.  Everyone has goiter, dysentery and malaria, just not at the same time.  Even though no one eats, they still walk 50 miles to find work.  Also, when someone dies, they walk for days to the cemetery since there is not one nearby.  How hard is it to dig some holes in the ground?  That was one of the most absurd parts.

This mockumentary was told in a serious tone, and yet everything about it was absurd and unbelievable.  I can't call it comedy even though it was absurd because it wasn't funny.  I will give this a 5/10.

Baraka (1992)

Today's film is Baraka, a non-verbal documentary.  It's not just a film; it's moving art.  I watched it in 1080p hd and it was awesome.

Baraka is a Sufi word meaning "a blessing, or as the breath, or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds".  The filmmakers shot this film using 70mm in 24 countries on 6 continents.  First, it starts off with images of nature, showing the desert, the Himalayas, and the beautiful night sky.  Then, it shows more primitive peoples as they perform their religious rituals, the busy people of the cities, and eventually it comes full circle to show the barren natural world again.  However, it is a film that has to be experienced and it is hard to describe a wordless film with words.

Sometimes the film was frustrating because I couldn't figure out what location they were filming.  But that's the point.  It's about a day on Earth so it doesn't matter particularly where on Earth we're watching.  I liked the time lapse photography that compared the Japanese subway system to chicks being sorted down a grinder.  However, it did invoke bad memories.  We used to live a few miles away from a commercial chicken farm and it had a unique smell.  The smell.  One never forgets a smell like that.  If you are wondering where the chicks are traveling to, they're being sorted.  The females, prized for their egg-laying abilities, are being kept while the males are going down a grinder to be turned into feed. The images of the city people make me wonder if we are traveling through life too fast and need to slow down.  The music is more quickly paced and rhythmic in this section.

In the beginning and final sections, the music is slower and grand.  Grand is the best way to describe it.  I love the images of nature, and especially the ones of the night sky.  I love those images much more than the images of anything humans have built.  I mean, it's taken Earth over 4 billion years to get this beautiful so I'm going to enjoy it.  However, I do want to show one image I liked; it's so shiny!  I have no idea what or where this is - but shiny!  (And I don't mean that in a Firefly sense, I mean it's actually shiny).

This film is so beautiful and shows people from all over the world following everything from their day to day lives and occasional celebrations, along with images of nature, set to amazing music.  I will give this film a 10/10.

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

Today's film is This is Spinal Tap.  I usually like mockumentaries by Christopher Guest.  He co-writes and stars in this film.  I truly enjoyed Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman.  (He's also in The Princess Bride so he gets bonus points).  But this is the least funniest movie he has ever been a part of.

The mockumentary follows the fictional band, Spinal Tap, as they travel on their comeback tour of America.  Unfortunately they find out they are not nearly as popular as they used to be.  They were never a great band; they were just an okay band riding on the popularity of their style.  However, most of their song lyrics are hilarious.  Such as "Big Bottom" which is about a ... big bottom, but all three front men are playing bass, so the sound truly matches the name.  Also, all of the actors are actually playing the instruments in the movie.

 There are some gems in this film, and the most familiar is that there amps go all the way to 11.  Also, there is a scene where Nigel plays his guitar with a violin, which mimics how Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin would play his guitar with a violin bow.  Supposedly the funniest scene is the little people dancing around the tiny Stonehenge, but I just thought that was stupid.

There is an actual documentary that is very similar to this film, but it is as funny as it is endearing.  It's about Anvil, an 80's metal band that never quite made it.  It's called Anvil: the Story of Anvil.  At the very end, they discover they have become big in Japan, so they go there to meet their crowds of fans.  That's exactly what happens at the end of this film, too.  I guess Japan loves its metal as much as we do.  I thought this was an okay mockumentary, I just didn't see much humor in it.  I will give this film a 6/11.

Khaneh siah ast (The House is Black) (1963)

Today's film is a short documentary giving us a glimpse into the lives of people living with leprosy in northern Iran.  It graphically shows us the damage their bodies have sustained, while the people narrate with flowery verses from the Koran.   They praise God for the beauty of the world and give thanks for their lives, while in reality they are truly suffering.  I noticed how no one bothered to thank the doctors taking care of them.

In one scene, a teacher asks his student why he should thank god for his mother and father.  He replies that he doesn't know because he has neither.  Life on the leper colony is very difficult for everyone there.  Today, leprosy is curable and almost 95% of people are naturally immune.  But still, there are leper colonies all over the world.  There are charities such as the Leprosy Mission that are dedicated to helping people with the disease improve their lives.  This documentary is short yet powerful and still relevant today.  I will give it an 8/10.

C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog) (1992)

Here is a mockumentary about a serial killer. Squeee! Oh, this is going to be hilarious.  I am actually watching this movie right now.  The serial killer's name is Ben (who is also a thief) and he is being followed around by a film crew of three.

He kills someone on the train in the first 44 seconds.  Then, I got a little math lesson on how to sink bodies.  Doesn't matter here; they'd be eaten by gators soon anyways.

I learned that his friend lost her house because a developer built condos for old people.  I'm sure this film has some deeper meaning about imminent domain and the government being awful but I don't want to research anything right now.  After listening to him speak for a while, I believe this man is straight up crazy.  He is ranting about the bricks being red because of "Indians, violence and (red) wining and dining". WAT.  I thought bricks were red because they had iron in them.

He convinces the film crew to go with him to a seafood restaurant, even though they originally didn't want to.  He asks them what kind of wine they wanted with the mussels, red or white.  What an idiot.  Everyone knows the mussels go with white wine.  Uncultured swine!

He car chases another guy who escapes into what looks like an abandoned nuclear tower. They chase the guy and he shoots and kills the sound man!  Remy, the director, picks up the sound equipment and the cameraman keeps filming.  The two become more involved in Ben's crimes, first helping him chase victims and carrying away bodies.

I thought it was funny when they encountered another film crew.  Also every party they're at is cringeworthy because Ben cannot hold his liquor at all.  He also shoots someone at his birthday party and the guests just quietly sit there, covered in blood.

Ben is a rather stupid and careless criminal.  He shoots them all with the same gun.  So all of his victims will be traced back to him.  Also, he throws all the bodies into the river, so when the water is low, all of the bodies are visible.  I thought the movie dragged a bit.  I haven't learned anything about Ben's character. I've met his family, but there is no interview of them and I barely see anything of his home life. It's nothing but crime after crime.  I really don't care what happens to anyone in this film. I'm giving this movie a 6/10.

Nanook of the North (1922)

A little baby with little puppies!

Today's documentary is Nanook of the North, one of the first full length documentaries ever made.  It focuses on Nanook, a hunter in Northern Canada, and his family of Eskimos.

It mainly focuses on stereotypes of Eskimos - seal hunting, dogsledding and Eskimo kisses.  We don't get to see them as regular people. What are they thinking about?  Do they like living where it is so cold?  This film is nothing better than a Nat Geo special.  It's so concerned with showing what they are that it never asks who they are. And that's a shame.  They did show a lot of the cute babies and puppies though. I'm giving this a 5/10.

Senna (2010)

Here's a documentary on the fast paced world of Formula One racing. Personally I like watching the Grand Prix rather than NASCAR; I think the races are more exciting. They even race in the rain!

Aryton Senna was a racer in the 1980's and 90's.  He started off as a go-kart racer in his native Brazil, and graduated to Formula One a few years later.  He had a natural talent for driving, but never played the politics game of racing.  For this, he was put in bad situations. His rival, Prost, used his knowledge of the politics of the racing game to strip Senna of his first championship and got him suspended. Did he deserve it? No, but the bitter rivalry made for great TV and made Formula One even more popular.

In the 90's, Prost's team got this neat car that was totally computerized, and a lot more high tech than any other car in the Grand Prix.  Nobody, not even Senna, could outrun this car. Prost easily won the championship.  Later, he was fired for making fun of the Ferrari brand. Lol, he deserved it. He is such a jerk.

The next year, Senna was hired by Prost's former team to drive the computerized car. However, right after he was hired, computerized cars were banned by race officials because they provide an unfair advantage. It is really tough luck that the jerk Prost was able to win even though Senna is a better driver, and now Senna can't even have the same advantages Prost has. It seems this was done on purpose. Unfortunately, removing all the computerized parts made the car harder to drive.  This made Senna's car lose control on a turn and crash, leaving him with a fatal head injury.

Senna was a hero to his native Brazil during his time, and will always be remembered as one the most talented drivers ever. His memory lives on in a charity founded by his sister, that focuses on helping underprivileged children.  After his death, safety measures were increased and there has not been another death in Formula One racing since.  This is a well made documentary and receives an 8/10.

San Pietro (1945)

Why does every man in the '40s talk out of the side of his mouth? Enunciate!!!

This is nothing more than a propaganda piece done by the U.S. Army.  The narrator only refers to the other side as enemies. Not Germans or Italians, not people, not men and women. Enemies. The narrator seeks to dehumanize them as much as possible. When the camera pans over the American soldiers, they are all smiles.  When the camera focuses on the dead, they are being placed neatly in white bags. Their hands are carefully folded. When the camera focuses on the enemy dead, the bodies are sprawled out in grotesque positions; their eyes and mouths wide open. After the battle, the townspeople return from their hiding places in the mountains to their homes, "the children all laughter and smiles". Meanwhile, the camera pans over their homes, which are blown to smithereens (the narrator never mentions this).

Unless you're in a high school history class and need to write a paper about World War 2 battles, there is no reason for you to watch this movie. I'm giving this movie a 4/10.

Chelovek s kino-apparatom (Man with a Movie Camera) (1929)

Here is a documentary in its purest form: A man goes around town literally documenting everything that happens. And so many things happen!

Life

We see people filling out marriage certificates as well as divorce certificates.  We see the preparations of a funeral, and a woman crying near a grave. At the same time, we see a baby's coming into the world. I love babies! The scenes are edited neatly to show us all of this happening at the same time.  We see that all stages of life happen all the time, even in a small town or city.  Somewhere down the road someone has just died, and at the same time, a baby has been born in a nearby hospital.  Life is always happening.

Work

It's time to go to work!  I loved seeing the old machinery of the factories.  I had no idea that there was so much technology back in the 1920's. The camera catches the intricacies of the gears and other moving parts, and how they move so seamlessly to keep everything running. The sewing machines work on the same principle as my own, only mine has more features.  No matter what kind of job a person has, they all smile at the camera.

Play

Now it's time for fun. The man with the camera goes to the beach and films people tanning and swimming. Next is a montage of people playing sports. This section is quick-paced and exciting.

Beach Aerobics!

The Man Himself

The Man with the movie camera goes to great lengths to get his prize shots. He lays on a railroad track to film a train, and actually stands on a moving car to film passers-by.  He hung off the side of a train to get some good footage as well.  Then everything was edited by a lady. This part should be called "The Lady in the Editing Room". Without editing, there wouldn't be a film, just random footage.  Honestly, this film is edited together much better than most modern films. You have to see it to believe it. I will give this film a 9/10.

Corked (2009)

Today's documentary is Corked.  Well, it's not actually a documentary, it's a mockumentary.  That's a scripted movie performed as if it were an actual documentary, and makes fun of the subject it is studying.  If you've seen any films by Christopher Guest, these are the funniest mockumentaries.  This one is obviously very influenced by Guest's style.

This film takes us through the daily lives of winemakers as they prepare for an upcoming festival.  I'm sure the winemakers in different countries have different ways of life, but the film only focuses on the California Wine Country in Sonoma. 

There are many different kinds of winemakers:

• The snobby winery owner who feels his clientele are better than everyone else because they enjoy his fermented grape drink. He is untrusting of his migrant workers in the fields, and harsh to the workers inside the processing area. Obviously votes Republican.
• The rich boy whose millionaire father purchased a winery for him so he could run it and not be a failure for once in his life. He has many ideas, terrible ideas, but they're ideas!  Can he take his new career seriously, or is it time to party?
• The frustrated manager who has to control the rich boy and reject all his really stupid ideas. He has to make wine, there is no time to babysit!
• The hardworking one man show. He does everything from harvest the grapes, process them, create the wine, make labels and distributes them. Can a small business owner compete with the big time wineries?

As we see each winemaker in his natural habitat, we learn that there will be a wine festival coming up soon, and a pretigiuos wine critic is coming to sample their wines! How exciting! Will he judge fairly, or is this festival simply a popularity contest? We'll soon find out. I'll give this movie a 6.5/10.

Grizzly Man (2005)

I have to tell you about this amazing documentary I watched. It's called Grizzly Man and it's the true story of Timothy Treadwell and his love of grizzly bears.  He seems to equate the bears with the cuddly teddy bears of his childhood.  However, real grizzly bears are highly dangerous carnivores that will not hesitate to eat a human being. 

The Grizzly Bear should be respected for its strength and ferocity.  It should never be a pet or domesticated in any way.  It should never be forced to perform tricks in a circus.  It should never be attacked and milked for its bile on a farm.  The bear belongs in its natural habitat in the wild of Alaska where it can be free to run and hunt. 

A few months out of the year, Timothy goes to live in Alaska with these carnivores.  The people interviewed in this film all think he is crazy for going up there year after year. Eventually, he's going to get eaten by a bear.

Guess what happens. He gets eaten by a bear.  One year, he is staying in his usual spot in Alaska in a tent with his girlfriend.  The video camera's microphone just happens to be on during the incident.  So there is audio, not video, recording of what happened.  The audio is never played during the documentary as to respect their families.  Of course, I was curious and looked up the original police report and found the audio files. What I heard was the horrific screams of a man and woman clearly being attacked by a bear. 

What makes this documentary great is that it provides a glimpse into the life of a person who loved nature and wanted to share his passion with others. He often taught classes at elementary schools and shared the same childlike wonder of animals and the natural world as the young students did.  He just was not responsible for his enthusiasm and misjudged the ferocity of the wild bears.  I give this documentary an 8/10.