raimund-berger

Doesn't try to beautify things but shows wildlife as it is. In particular, you do see lions go after prey in concert and eat, and receive some insights into their techniques and general approach to the matter.

A misconception I had, for example, was that male lions don't really hunt but let the females do all the work. Wrong, as it turns out, they do get into action, just not that often, but when they do it's quite the spectacle.

A documentary probably suitable more for grown-ups than small kids, though, because, at times, the imagery can be graphic. As said, the doc tries to be authentic, to a reasonable degree, considerably more so than many others do.

This is a documentary about a number of things. E. R. Wood. Her family, upbringing and first career steps. Her relationship with Manson, the treatment she suffered there, and from an opportunistic, exploitive and occasionally vulgar press. How she got out of it, and, after a period of relief, couldn't ignore her symptoms anymore. Then her efforts to cope with them, on a personal level but also by making the story public. And then a number of agendas that emerge from there.

A change of legislation, for example, regarding statutory limits. Efforts to encourage others, to make themselves heard, and a desire to prevent others from falling into the same trap. And finally a wish and attempt to hold Manson himself accountable.

Much could be said about each of these items. Domestic violence. Abuse rampant in the entertainment business, and the constant hush-up due to the each-for-himself mentality and the money involved. Then, having gone through such an experience, the very tough question of what might actually help you, personally, in getting back on track and find some productive form of healing. The matter of the advice that you get, and if it's always good, considering that the priorities of parties joining you might differ. And so forth. It's endless.

Myself - and the documentary supports this approach when making her the main narrator - I simply focused on what she had to say about her personal experience, and her subjective view on it. In particular, there can be little doubt that what she tells is true. The description of the treatment she's been subjected to is all too familiar. Just as the description of her symptoms is. Fact is, you can literally see her still suffer from them right there.

Very saddening. The documentary, and she herself, try to put the entire matter into a broader context, to promote a cause. Of mixed nature, after all, when it becomes about the issue of holding the perpetrator accountable. Yet, at the center of it is still the individual, the pain and the damage. And for us, lots of food for thought, for discussion and reconsideration of ones own actions, as responsible members of our society and consumers of entertainment business and (tabloid) press products.

Profoundly humane film, that doesn't try to judge but treats all of its characters with sympathy and understanding, even though at least some of them should be fairly disagreeable. Many touching moments, like when they try to take advantage of a dying man but can't entirely disown their human nature. The baby crawl. The "big one" in the gas station toilet, followed by the very same "crawl" that previously happened to become an item on a checklist. Seriously enchanting stuff.

Also, pitch perfect performances all around, the daughter in particular. With her hollow voice and.atonic body language, the combination of brusqueness and introversion in demeanor and facial expressions, while she constantly seems to mentally work on a question the precise nature of which she doesn't appear to have understood yet. And the timing, like in "six weeks the longest .... and the shortest?" Beautiful.

This was a movie I really liked. Lean. No distractions. Perfectly focused on what it wants to convey, and doing so. While exhibiting a very, very lovely kind of humor.