Book and film special edition: the documentaries

Welcome to a one-off special: this month I have been fortunate enough to have seen 3 outstanding film documentaries which I think are worthy of inclusion in their own section. I also throw in a "documentary" book for good measure.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE MULTIPLEX, by Mark Kermode. We all know the good doctor's work from his Friday afternoon film slot with Simon Mayo on Radio 5. In that manifestation he is endlessly entertaining and informative. When I started his book, however, I felt his style did not translate well to the written word, in fact it was becoming faintly irritating: overly chatty and even a bit embarrassing. But I relaxed, and soon settled into his quirky, informal style. I began to enjoy his highly incisive take on the movie business, in particular his tribute to what movies could achieve in the early days, before they apparently ran out of ideas. Some of his themes are well known to us from his frequent rants on radio: his betes noir of 3D (it's a con perpetrated by desperate movie men to get us out of the house and spending money, however crap the thing itself might be), blockbusters that are also crap but still make money because of clever marketing, and the cynical Hollywood practise of "American language" shot-for-shot remakes of perfectly good (and ultimately, usually superior) foreign films. His judgements are neat, surgical and often devastating. Nice one!

FILMS

INTO GREAT SILENCE (2007) D- Philippe Groening. A French film maker approached the Abbott of a Carthusian monastery, requesting permission to make a film about them. Fifteen years later they finally agreed and let the cameras in. What we see, shot entirely in natural light, is an extraordinary window into the world of a community of monks who, like the nuns in the film No Greater Love, have taken a vow of silence and a dedication to prayer and contemplation. Only once a week do they relax their rule, when they go out on a long walk in the country and chat "normally". Groening takes great care to convey the slow, quiet flow of events in the monastery, which is set in stunning scenery high in the French Alps. Eventually the effect is almost uniquely absorbing, as we are gently drawn into their world. One of the most touching moments takes place on one of their forays outside, where they find a snow covered slope and slide down it in glee, giggling and falling about like children. Why shouldn't they?

THE HOUSE I LIVE IN (2012) D- Eugene Jarecki. Named after a song written in the 40s by Abel Meeropol, the house is America. And oh dear, what a depressing place the house has become, especally if you're black and fallen foul of the drug laws. There are 2.2 million people incarcerated in the US; up to a quarter of whom are in for small time dealing and possession. Most of them aren't white. Worst are the laws around crack, where until recently penalties for supplying it were 100 times (sic) heavier than for dealing powder cocaine. Obama recently reduced the disparity to 18 times, which still seems insane to this observer. Eugene Jarecki's fine film delves into the lives of the people who have become casualties of the system, as well as looking at the law makers and enforcers. Makes you glad you don't live there...

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010) D- Banksy. In Los Angeles (where else?), a crazy, French ex-pat dude called Thierry Guetta is filming his life, second by second, when he bumps into some street artists and decides it would be more interesting to film them. He captures some marvellously anarchic footage in the process, but in his heart yearns to meet the Great One from Bristol. Then one day, completely by chance, he does. And so taken is Banksy by this ball of manic energy and enthusiasm, he allows Guetta to film him at work. Finally Banksy suggests he might want to make art rather than just filming it, and Guetta takes him at his word. Within months his work is a sensation throughout the LA glitterati. And Banksy is left wondering what kind of monster he has created... Some say none of this is true, that it's all another Banksy put-on. I don't know, but it makes for riveting viewing, gospel truth or not.