Trials of Life and Birds of Paradise by David Attenborough are my favorite nature documentaries. I gave my copy of Paradise to someone and never got it back. I’ll never do that again (hasn’t been on TV since and it’s only available in PAL format). They both contain incredible photography and Attenborough’s enthusiasm for the subject is obvious. His Life of Birds is also excellent.
Thin Blue Line and Roger&Me.
Heart and Minds. This movie invoked one of the strongest reactions I’ve ever had to film. It’s about the Vietnam War and in one scene, General Westmoreland is saying something about how the Vietnamese view death differently from Westerners, that they were more stoic. His words were played over a scene where an hysterical mother tries to climb into the grave of her eldest son.
The Olympics series by Bud Greenspan (I think that’s who did them).
Films by Eric Wiseman Evibeth, when you listed his Titicutt Follies, the scene that flashed through my mind was the feeding of a patient with a tube and funnel. The director is talking about why they have to do it, and slurping food down the funnel while holding a cigarette over the it. I was waiting for the ashes to drop in like one waits for the other shoe. Wiseman’s films are truly captivating considering that he uses no narration.
I think it’s Wiseman.
I have been looking forward to Hands on a Hard Body (a contest to win a Nissan truck where the contestants place their hands on the truck and the last one touching it wins it).
Evilbeth is right in calling him Frederick Wiseman, but you are right in responding to silent-rob. Unfortunately, most of Wiseman’s films are hard to find (usually they get shown on PBS instead of getting any theatrical distribution). For more on each film:
Hoop Dreams: About the effect basketball has on minorty youth in America… follows the story of two high school basketball players in Chicago in the Early 1990’s.
Paris is Burning: About the underground transvestite scene in Harlem in the 1980’s. Facinating documentary.
Liberty: The six part PBS documentary (forget teh director) about The American Revolution. Excellent show that tends to play all day on WTTW every year in Chicago, and has become one of my favorites.
Well, thanks to this thread, I just finished watching Hands on a Hard Body. A very impressive mix of American truck culture and tenacity. As I mentioned before, it’s an annual contest held in Texas to win a Nissan truck by being the last one touching it. A real mix of folks participate, with many reasons, but mostly because they all could use transportation (one woman signed up each day by biking over to the dealership). I won’t give away the ending, but I’ll just say that cause for the second to the last person’s ending the contest was rather ironic. Definitely worth renting. Be prepared to feel very tired after watching this.
Aargh, I can’t believe I forgot to mention CNN’s Cold War series. It had interviews with all the key players in the cold war - Bush, Gorbachev, Castro, etc. The whole series is 24 hours long, but each episode focused on one particular aspect, like e.g the Cold War in Central America, or deterrance, and they can each stand on their own pretty well.
ArchiveGuy: Thanks, I couldn’t remember Resnais’ name.
For film buffs - Hearts of Darkness. This doco on the making of Apocalypse Now blows away the movie it’s about, and works great in tandem with both AN and the novel Heart of Darkness, which AN was loosely based on.
I have to agree with American Movie - I found it completely inspiring.
I have watched and loved dozens of history and nature documentaries, but of course can’t remember any of them now. I’ll try to come up with a list when I get a moment to think.
Anything by Ken Burns is worth a look. Let’s add the Huey Long bio as one of 'em.
If you’ve seen all the BBC documentaries that includes all the Thames Productions, too?
I ask because the 1980 “Hollywood” series narrated by James Mason was a fun way to follow the history of the silents.
Thanks for the link ArchiveGuy. I was thinking of High School, an excellent movie. You’re right though, they are hard to find. Those of his that I have seen I have borrowed from my University’s film collection.
Regarding the Brothers Burns, I generally prefer Ken’s work to Ric’s. But in “The Donner Party” Ric acquitted himself very, very nicely. I recommend it. My favorite quote:
“It snowed. And it snowed. And it snowed.”
Ken’s “Brooklyn Bridge” is certainly worth the time, too.
I can’t believe I forgot about these two. We have had a thread or two about these cases but we don’t ever seem to get much response. I am very intrigued by them.
Black is, Black Ain’t … by Marlon Riggs
SilverLake Life, The View from Here … really opened my eyes to the ravishes of HIV and AIDS.
The Human Animal by Desmond Morris…He sure knows his monkey stuff.
The “Connections” series…“Pole to Pole” with Michael Palin.
Maysles’ “What’s Happening! The Beatles in the USA” chronicles the mop-tops as they arrive in America for the first time. and of course “Woodstock”.
Just about anything on HBO…A&E"s 100 most influential people of the last 1000 years was an interesting undertaking. And the short “King Gimp”
Concerning Ken Burns: The Civil War was one of the best film projects ever undertaken. I found “Baseball” to be rather one sided (Some suggested East-Coast centric). I think the subject was more than he could handle. His 17 hour “Jazz” doc will be out soon.
I’m a fan of those long (4 hr++) documentaries too, especially military history. Some of my favs:
The aforementioned Ken Burn’s Civil War and Baseball, each of which I’ve watched at least 3 times. I also thought his Lewis and Clark documentary was excellent.
Russia’s War: Blood Upon the Snow is excellent, though one of the most depressing things I’ve ever seen. Makes you realize what living in fear really means. The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century is similar in both respects.
The TLC documentary War and Civilization was quite interesting, seemingly based on Keegan’s book A History of Warfare.
The Battlefield series on WW2 and Vietnam are very detailed, and have the added benefit of being able to put most people to sleep so they won’t keep asking you if they can watch something else.
I’m also a frequent watcher of Nova and Frontline, which are usually well done. Anybody remember these:
Top Gun and Beyond
B-29: Frozen in Time
The Real Jurassic Park
Shootout in Mogadishu
The Man Who Built the Supergun
Gulf War
The Farmer’s Wife
Check out a film called ‘Marjoe’. Info here http://eonline.com/Facts/Movies/0%2C60%2C10922%2C00.html
Marjoe Gortner is now a fairly cheesy b-movie actor, but he was once an evangelical preacher/con man. When he wanted to quit that racket and go legit, he invited a film crew total access to film him fleecing the flock. Great documentary.
I will also chime in for Roger & Me, The Civil War, and Liberty! The American Revolution. There is often great stuff to be found on PBS and The History Channel.
No one has mentioned 28 Up (I have not seen the follow-ups 35 Up and 42 Up). This was originally aired on British television. They found a group of 7-year-old English children from different backgrounds and interviewed them every 7 years, and we see how they have changed over time, as well as how they have stayed the same. The spooky thing is how much of their personalities seem to have been set by the time we first meet them at age 7.
Actually, I liked Burke’s The Day The Universe Changed better than Connections, there was more of a goal to them, and I think the connections were a little more meaningful. And on the subject of sciency documentaries, you can’t do much better than Cosmos.
