Kumare

Vikram Gandhi, 2011

Netflix

4/5

Vikram Gandhi is a filmmaker who wants to study Americans' obsession with the concept of a Guru. As an experiment he attempts to impersonate a yoga guru hoping to generate some humor. What he ends up getting is something he did not expect; real followers. Loyal, committed followers. He's suddenly faced with the challenge of being honest with these people who suddenly look up to him for spiritual leadership. Can he come clean?

Kumare is the kind of documentary that sneaks up on you. Vikram Gandhi is quite honest about his intentions. He wants to out the false prophets of the world with a well-crafted social experiment. Snake oil salesmen. Smoke in mirrors. And he does this. But he gets more than he bargained for. When you start to hear the stories of the people that begin following him, your heart aches. These are real people. These are people with real issues, who struggle with real issues. People who have a certain pain that makes them particularly vulnerable. The fascinating thing is that they all have different flavors of vulnerability. But it's all very authentic. There's certainly a message here. People are insecure. People are desperate for guidance. Sometimes it's as simple as companionship. Sometimes it's validation. And because of that desperation, there is a certain accessibility that forms.

The cleverly constructed doc defies you to hold back the tears when you see the pictures on the wall of the family members who have moved away from their mother. When you hear about past drug abuse, and a new-found sense of purity. Broken promises to oneself, and the intention to finally fulfill them. Kumare accidentally becomes a real guru to them, a pseudo-father figure. The joke gets lost in the humanity. Without the humanity, the film would be a cheap laugh in the same vein as Borat. Without the humanity, the film would come off as deviously predatory as Punk'd. But that's the thing. The humanity is there. On both sides. Kumare's placebo effect has a lasting impact. The emotions are laid right out there. Brace yourself for the reveal.

Touching the Void

Kevin MacDonald, 2003


3/5

Using first-hand interviews interlaced with accurate reenactment footage, this docu-drama covers the story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates, a pair mountain climbers who run into trouble when one of them falls and breaks their leg while attempting to climb the west face of the Siula Grande in the Andes mountains in 1985.

It is undeniably a story worth telling. Using the technique of reenacting the journey, it certainly puts you in the action. The camera is not just fixated on the side of the mountain either. Unique locations like elevated above the climbers, down at the base of the snow where you see chips of ice falling on the lens. It makes the work much more cinematic, more entertaining than if you were just sitting watching two veteran climbers reflect on their journey. When the heavy snow is pinning them to the sides of the cliff at night while they look above with miner's lights on their helmets - you really get a sense of the comradery involved. Connected by a piece of rope, their lives are really in each others hands. The sudden decision made by one of the climbers is made in a few seconds but is clearly a life-changing one. It certainly presents a moral dilemma to the film that leaves the viewer wondering what he or she would do in the same situation. When the film makes a shift into a more survival-based theme, its very reminiscent of the struggle in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours. Like that story, there is a focus on the resilience of the human body. The film certainly explores the concept that perhaps there are parts to this world that are not meant to be accessed. But that wouldn't be human nature would it? We are curious creatures, bound to take risks. We are eager to put our foot in virgin soil. We want to make our mark.

Waste Land

Lucky Walker, Karen Harley & Joao Jardim - 2010


4/5

Vik Muniz, world-famous artist, decides to travel to his home country of Brazil for a large art project set in the vast Jardim Gramacho landfill in Rio de Janeiro. What follows is a well-detailed film about the less fortunate people of Brazil who finally get some well-deserved attention.

An inspiring, thorough documentary that really captures the evidence of deep-rooted poverty in Brazil. At times emotionally moving, Muniz decides to try and capture a more ignored side of humanity. There is a large group of poor people that pick through heaps of unfiltered garbage in the land-fill in an effort to separate the recyclables to redeem them for what adds up to about twenty dollars per day. Muniz informs the people that he would like to profile them in an art exhibit, sell the artwork, and give 100% of the revenue back to the people. As Vik starts the interviewing process, he starts to see the similarities with the pickers and his own past - where he grew up poor conditions himself. There's a wide spectrum of personalities at Jardim Gramacho - from the mother who lost her son at age 3, to the uneducated elder who has been picking for 26 years. They all have a story, and they have a sympathetic quality to them. It's inspiring that although they may be waist deep in society's waste day in and day out, they have a sense of integrity and pride in their work. You see that these people, while uneducated, have a real hunger for knowledge. They scour through the trash, and when they find books they clean them off and bring them home. One of the men has even read War and Peace. The pickers have a sharp eye. By examining ones trash, they realize you can find out a lot about that person. Their social status, their occupation, their overall health condition.

One memorable point in the film is when Vik has a group of pickers in his studio. He describes the person at the museum - the person who stands back from the wall and looks at the art, and then bends forward to look at the material up close. As you get closer to a painting, it begins to lose its appeal when you see the detail. As you move away, you see the beauty. It's an important concept, because it can so accurately portray these people and their conditions. From a distance (such as when Vik is viewing the landfill from Google Earth at his Brooklyn studio), they appear to be desperate trash-dwellers. You get closer, as he does, and you start to see the qualities of the people. Vik Muniz selflessly changed the lives of the people of Jardim Gramacho, and it's really inspiring to see him give back to his hometown.