A Certain Kind of Death

Disturbing, creepy, sad documentary on how the body and personal effects of those who die without kin are handled by the coroner's office.

The lack of music and narration, combined with carefully coldly composed cinematography all add to the disturbing sense of clinical isolation.

The images of real dead bodies being discovered, cataloged, and eventually reduced to ash can't help but make one ponder mortality, and how alone we all are in the end.

Yet sometimes the air of reserve feels forced, and there's a bit of repetitiveness, despite the short (69 min) running time.

Still, a fascinating, macabre, thought provoking film

I love this film. The director's unblinking eye captures something extraordinary and mundane. You see the process of laying to rest the John and Jane Does of Los Angeles. Some parts are extremely graphic, showing the bodies of deceased people (vagrants really) as well as the practical and unsettlingly methodical protocol used to handle and interr the remains. Part of me sees this film as a sweet elegy about death and impermanence. The other part of me sees a film about fascism and genocide because all of the living characters are lower-middle class bureaucrats who exist in a bureaucratic fog. Whether they shuffle papers or crush incinerated bone fragments, there is an alarming detachment masked behind a thin layer of civic obligation. This is not like the docs on CourtTV; this is a thoughtful, well-shot production.

It's about unclaimed deaths. Who dies lonely. And hose dead bodies remain untouched for many time until it discovered by an uninvited person, mostly the house owners. By the way, this documentary is very touching which teaches us, don't die alone. Make good friends who may miss us sometimes. Keep relationship with every friends and family members we have. Recommended 80%. Alert: heavy heart breaking scenes.

This documentary is unique in its rawness. It follows the deaths of 3 people, and captures the raw facts of how the state processes what remained after they died when no family or friends came to speak for them: their body, their money, their things. Through the process and the work of different state employees, some details of the decedents' lives emerge, showing that these were real human beings with life stories - who died alone. The film is almost like a stoic parent matter-of-factly and plainly illuminating the facts and realities of death to a child who has asked.

A Certain Kind of Death is well worth watching and eye opening. Its' only uncompromising principle being a dedication to sharing the unblinking brute facts and reality of how a state manages the deaths of it's citizens.

For me, the film left a lasting impression, forcing the viewer to ask themselves the obvious question: how do I want my own death to be handled?

I worked as a hospice nurse and witnessed several people pass with no family present. I always wondered what the next step was for them. It's a sad but curious process they go through with no one to take care of the next steps following death. Several things you don't think of in life at a certain age. You can't look away! If anything it makes you want to prepare in advance so you don't fall through the cracks. Rare views of decomposition and the cleanup process before they became a regular YouTube view. You do become involved with the individual they find...do they find family? Why did they die? What was their life like? Very interesting but done it what I feel is a very respectful and somber way given the subject matter. It is interesting to note they do look for quite some time for surviving family before burial.