Two Documentaries
Two documentaries stood out in my mind at this year's Seattle Film Festival, and they could not have been more different.
The first, Alone in Four Walls, is a lyrically shot documentary about nine to thirteen-year-old boys serving time for crimes ranging from theft to murder in a rural Russian prison for boys. The film is startling in that the inmates are indeed children: frightened, weeping and pining for parents who never come to visit.
As sympathy for the boys begins to mount, Director Alexandra Westmeier takes her audience outside the prison walls to the sad, angry and sometimes bitter families who tell stories of oft times startling delinquency, including the story of one of the featured boys' grisly murder of a friend. Westmeier had free access within the walls of the prison and the result – a simple film told in images and interviews without narration and commentary – is powerful and mesmerizing.
Man on Wire, from France, is a first rate documentary that feels like a heist movie.
Man on Wire, from France, is a first rate documentary that feels like a heist movie.
Philippe Petit was a French tight rope walker who saw a drawing of a proposed construction project in New York City and dreamed of walking a rope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center long before the towers were built. Years of planning, including multiple trips to New York during and after construction (including a visit posi
ng as a French reporter, which the artist captured on film), culminated in the ascension of two teams to the roofs of the towers under the cover of night where a cable was strewn across the void and anchored to each of the buildings.
ng as a French reporter, which the artist captured on film), culminated in the ascension of two teams to the roofs of the towers under the cover of night where a cable was strewn across the void and anchored to each of the buildings. The ploy was intricately planned – the teams had an inside man, disguises, dodged security guards and were forced to hide for hours at a time under tarps or behind columns in order to escape detection. And with a crate containing a cable that weighed more than a ton! The film is at times a nail-biter, and when Petit finally takes the wire between the World Trade Center buildings the audience was holding its collective breath in awe. Archival footage, photographs and new interviews with Petit and his teams are used to great effect in this utterly fascinating and captivating film.
Top: A photo I took in 1993 at the WTC: I cannot imagine anyone having ever walked across such an expanse. Above: The movie poster for Man on Wire.
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