30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 14: Favourite documentary

Those who read my blog know that I have my own category dedicated to documentaries, so picking one out of everything I’ve seen was difficult.  My first thought was something from Michael Moore, either Fahrenheit 9/11 or Bowling For Columbine as they are up there on my list of favourite docs.  But I had to go with the truly affecting Hearts and Minds.

I think part of the reason Hearts and Minds was more affecting for me was because I was learning about the Vietnam War in my History class so I was better able to grasp everyone involved and the background of how it all developed.  There’s a scene in the film that really disturbs me: a solider is in the street in Vietnam and he shoots a man in the head.  As the man collapses on the ground, blood releases from his head like a fountain, and at the time, I was in so much shock because I had seen this happen in Hollywood movies before but this was real — a man just got shot in the head.  There was no special effects, no pouch of blood exploding.  It was all real.  This was reality.

It still haunts me today.  Reality is horrific.  Take a lesson from that, modern horror movie makers.

Saturday Morning Documentary: Street Fight

It’s been a while since I’ve seen this film (ie. last year) but I do remember how I felt about it pretty well.  In 2002 in the town of Newark in New Jersey, Cory Booker runs for mayor, hoping to unseat the longtime mayor Sharpe James.  You’re probably thinking, “So what?  Why should this be notable?  Mayoral elections happen all the time.”   Director Marshall Curry calls it “Street Fight” — as the fight for mayor is taken to the streets of Newark where both parties try to win over individual citizens.

Things are not as they seem, however.  While the film is primarily focused on Cory Booker and his campaign, he does try to film James’ campaign as well, only to get denied time and time again, sometimes meeting violence.  Sharpe James, as the film shows, is manipulative, arrogant, and his supporters seem to be out of control at times.  And since no one seems to be challenging James’ authority or the outrageous stunts he pulls, the street fight escalates, right up until the last vote is counted.

I would rank Street Fight with Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, in terms of how pissed off it leaves audiences feeling (or at least, me).  Despite the amateur look of the film, there is a reason why this was nominated for an Oscar: showing the corruption and true face of American politics.

Street Fight