Grass

Nice that they got Harrelson for the narration (not to mention some of the Firesign guys, etc.).

Perhaps a little *too* boffo at times, but nonetheless a wonderful compendium of pot Americana crafted, accrued, and organized to drive home an important point; what on God's green earth drives this monumental institutional fuss over a weed?

I will look at anything Paul Mavrides (Art Direction) puts his hand to; he's such a monster, gob bless 'im!

For some reason, I'm driven to make a very generic point about this genre of film by highlighting the "inscrutability" of the subject matter. In my mind, "Grass" is in the same category as unexplained phenomena, religion, conspiracies, suppressed inventions, etc. I call it "topic candy", as it pushes the mind to attempt to objectivize the subjective in a fun and frolicsome way. Again: What, after all, *are* the underlying mental/spiritual/social attitudes that fuel marijuana scares, and a kind of concentrated paternalism that makes state socialism look like mom 'n' pop free enterprise by comparison? And attempts by films like "Grass" to attack these kinds of topics is a high-risk game. When you tackle a subject which is, after all, a mental state, you risk appearing irrationally predisposed, but at the same time stand the chance of turning over a rock somewhere in our collective consciousness to find something that is true and illuminating. Which leads to the questions: Does "Grass" take these risks? Yes. Do these risks pay off in "Grass"? My answer: A qualified "maybe". Whether "Grass" succeeds or not isn't as important to me as the fact that it takes those risks. That's really how I feel. And, maybe, that willingness to put things out "on the line" is a kind of success in itself.

If you are a fan of edgy sonics and graphics and have an interest in U.S. anti-drug hysteria, take the time to watch this film. It'll teach you a *few* things you may not have known before. And its highlighting of the mounting national expense for the drug war (fiscal and social) *will* give you serious pause....

Laugh your arse off. This hilarious documentary is a real eye opener if you don't your history of the war on marajuana. The long and stupid war on the weed is just one of many misteps by the U.S. government that the mainstream media seems to ignore!?! I saw this at the Music Box theater downtown Chicago which only added to the fun. As a documentary though it missed a couple of things. It forgot to mention William Randolph Hearst's deep involvment with the war. He did after all run the huge media conglomorate that supported Anslinger's view. Hearst went on to be portrayed unflatteringly in Citizen Kane. There is barely a mention of Reagan/Bush/Clinton the trio of presidents who have more to fight this unwinnable war then any of their preddosessors. No mention of the fact that Hemp plants were indeed grown by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson. The last three grew it on the White House lawn!!! As a documentary however it seems a bit one sided and therefore guilty of the very thing anti drug people are. But then again Freedom is a one sided thing, you either have it or you don't. The movie is also a bit biased in that it puts marajuana on a pedistal and ignores the fact that even though harsher drugs like cocaine and heroin are harmful, laws against them are completely and totally unconstitutional. Makes you think though, if the U.S. government is so eager to abuse their power like this, is it really a great idea to repeal the second amendment or limit it in so many way? Now I'm sounding preachy. Go see this movie with some friends, have a jay outside, and laugh at highlights from old movies like Reefer Madness, and Up In Smoke. Laugh at the directors keen sense of ironic humor. And remember that what you know just might kill you.

This documentary shows how scaremongering has influenced a generation of Americans, and how effective the power of hatred can be.

I don't smoke myself, so I cannot be accused of wanting the drug to be legalised for selfish reasons. The film gives a good argument based around how much money, and it's a ridiculously, comically large figure, has been wasted on the "War on Drugs". Because when you think about it, there would be no such thing as world hunger if even an eighth (no pun intended) of this money had been used all those years ago to better effect.

But we're skipping the film itself here. It's funny, fresh, fast-paced, has crazy visuals, and is entertaining aswell as education, and well worth your time.

It's a film paranoid parents and school-teachers should see, but they won't, it's up to our generation to make the change and to make more informative films like this.

A lot of the discussion about -Grass- both here and in the press has focused on what the film is not. It isn't a documentary about marijuana use, nor is it intended to be. Instead, it's a film about the history of the "war" on marijuana in the U.S.

Mann's films are done in a "high" visual style (no joke intended) that is very graphic-intensive. While this isn't to everyone's taste, it does cut through the otherwise heavy use of archival footage. The narration is incisive, but it is kept thankfully to a minimum. The result is a documentary that entertains and instructs.

I was somewhat disappointed that the film did not go on in any detail about the post-1980 period, where some of the most interesting battles have been fought. Other than that, -Grass- is an excellent summary of how the "drug war" in the U.S. came to be fought in the way that it is today.

I suppose my other disappointment is that the film focuses exclusively on the U.S.; I had hoped that a Canadian such as Ron Mann would have examined the equally interesting history of marijuana prohibition in Canada.

-Grass- is well worth a viewing, both for its visual appeal and its committed take on an interesting subject.

I find reviews interesting in that they tell us what the "reviewer" got out of the movie. I will try to give a true review, and I believe a true "review" tells what point the movie was making. Of course this would be what I got out of the movie, so is it a true review. Maybe the only way for a person to really know what a movie is about is to watch it and not worry about what someone else thought of it. I think this movie was written as a "documentary" and it documents the propaganda about drug from the beginning of the century. It attempts to show those of us who have seen the current propaganda our how it has been presented over the generations. I saw the point as being how serious the subject is taken now, and how we are told that the current law is based on the facts, when their facts came from a propaganda campaign. And if you look deep enough you will see that that propaganda campaign was perpetrated for the interest of Big Business. The purpose of the "war against marijuana" is not to eliminate the use. It is to prevent the growth of hemp which competes with the cotton industry, petroleum industry, paper industry, etc. It is also interesting that we continue to let the propaganda confuse the marijuana plant with the hemp plant.