Life Itself (2014)

Director: Steve James

Cast: Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Werner Herzog, Ava DuVernay

Have I Seen it Before: Yes, indeed. When I started out on these reviews, it came about after a binge of old Siskel & Ebert episodes on youtube, punctuated by a viewing of this film that hit me on a deep, profound level. That was nearly four years ago. Now I’m smack dab in the middle of another binge of S & E episodes, and the film’s been calling my name for rewatch for a while.

Did I Like It: After a number of years on the screening committee for the Santa Fe International Film Festival, I’ve come to some general but essential truths about the levels of quality in the documentary form.

First, a documentary needs to be competent on a technical front. Everything that ought to be seen, ought to be seen clearly. All things which should be heard are heard clearly. It feels like this should be an easy thing to master, but there are so many films which fail. A misunderstanding that the documentary form will be easier and not require the same kind of craft as narrative films has led many down the wrong path. Here, there is nothing to complain about. James brought us Hoop Dreams (1994), which was feverishly championed by Ebert as one of the best documentaries ever produced. This is certainly not—nor was it ever in danger or being—an amateurish effort.

The second threshold which can make or break a documentary is level of access to the subject. Here, there are no complaints, either. Ebert likely knew his time among the lving was not long even when he agreed to the production of the film. He certainly seemed to be at peace with his mortality, if his memoirs were any indication, after a number of years of illness and disfigurement. In stark contrast to the private way his partner, Gene Siskel, handled the public disclosure of cancer and its impact, Ebert let’s us see his life as it is, as unflinchingly as good taste would allow.

Clearing the first and second criteria will allow a film to achieve mere adequacy. Third, and this can be largely up to fate or the whims of the viewer: affinity for (or at least, interest in) the subject. Here, as I indicated above, I am transfixed. If there ever were an example to live life by, I might be most comfortable with that of Ebert’s. A youth can be somewhat misspent, but time will reveal the true valuable things, in increasing order of importance:

• Breasts.

• Movies*.

• The Written Word.

• People.

Throw in a complete disinterest in whether or not there’s an afterlife or not, and you actually have the makings of a fine religion brewing there.

* Yes, he gave an ultimately negative review to Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), even the greats can be wrong. Another encouraging message.

Selma (2014)

Director: Ava DuVernay

Cast: David Oyeowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey

Have I Seen it Before: No.

Did I Like It: This one firm complaint I’m going to have will be tied exclusively to the manner in which I watched the film. For Martin Luther King Jr. day, normally my wife engages in a service project with her work, while I inevitably end up at home rewatching Cheers for the 17th time.

This year, with COVID still raging, the service project fell by the wayside, with her and her colleagues instead watching the film...

...screen shared over Zoom. With Gchat chimes. And I thought motion-blurring was the worst possible way to take in a film since the downfall of VHS. I didn’t know how good I had it.

Now that we have that out of the way...

I have a temptation to look down on important history trying to be jammed into the package of a mainstream Hollywood film. It certainly feels like this film has its heart in the right place, with the important story of the 1965 marches on Selma being told by filmmakers who have a vested interest in having the story told. DuVernay also doesn’t feel content to offer a hagiographic vision of King, and instead makes him a snapshot of a real man, and not the smoothed out image that every corporation, soccer mom, and conservative politician suddenly remembers in the middle of January.

But I can’t escape the conclusion I have with many historical films: history can’t truthfully fit inside a movie, even when the filmmaker has the best of intentions. If one wants to spend a few hours inspired about the feelings behind something like the civil rights movement, then there are worse ways to spend one’s time. But if one wants to learn the true history of such things (and one should), one really should read a book.