Bitter Melons

I think I first saw 'Bitter Melons' on PBS back in the '70s. I have always loved documentaries or anything educational as a result I have watched a lot of PBS over the years and have seen most of not all of John Marshall's works.

In 2005 I watched 'Bitter Melons' again, this time as part of a college course in Cultural Anthropology. I was struck by how well John Marshall captured the humor as well as the deeper social meaning in this ethnographic film of the !Kung people.

As an aside to the film, I was told that the 'star' and his wife lived for many more years after this event was filmed. So the seeming abandonment of the group did not spell the end for the old man.

I recommend this film to anyone interested in anthropology, hunter gathers peoples or even documentaries in general.