This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 13, 2010 - One Lucky Elephant
"I wanted an elephant all my life," says David Balding, director of St. Louis' Circus Flora, at the beginning of this emotionally compelling documentary about the bonds that can exist between species. He adds, "Be careful what you wish for."
About 25 years ago, Balding got his elephant, a baby whose mother had been slaughtered by hunters. Her name was Flora, and that also became the name of the circus Balding was starting. As Flora grew, she and Balding seemed to be best of friends, but when she became an adolescent she began to act aggressively toward a few people. Balding reluctantly decided she needed to be with other elephants.
His search for the right place, which continued for years, forms the film's main narrative. Then, after a perfect home seems to have been found, something unexpected happens that may mean that Balding will never see Flora again, a prospect that can reduce him to tears.
The story proceeds in both St. Louis and Tennessee and director Lisa Leeman does not hesitate to follow it to both places and wherever else it leads, geographically and emotionally. She spent nine years on the film. Without editorializing, she raises some deep questions about the proper relationship between humans and wild animals.
She is aided greatly in telling the story by the openness of Balding and his wife, Laura Carpenter, and by the spare but elegant soundtrack music by Miriam Cutler.
--Review by Harper Barnes
The Agony And Ecstasy Of Phil Spector
Long before his televised trial for murdering a down-on-her-luck actress in his LA mansion, Phil Spector was an important force in the popular music business. As a record producer, for better and for worse, he brought the so-called the "wall of sound" (mostly string instruments and back-up singers) to rock and roll.
Amid the irresistible fluff ("Da Doo Ron Ron") and over-cooked messes ("River Deep, Mountain High"), Spector produced one undeniable masterpiece - the Righteous Brothers' 1964 recording of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling." According to the BMI licensing agency, "That Loving Feeling" was played on radio and television more than any other song in the 20th century.
"The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector" is a fascinating if shudder-inducing portrait of a mad man, a vibrating paranoiac who looks like a corpse with a dead poodle on his head. The documentary gives Spector plenty of footage to rant at his enemies - essentially, the world - while tracing his career from "Be My Baby" to "Let It Be." Every time we begin to think we can't take any more of Spector's self-effusion, director Vikram Jayanti shifts the scene to Spector's murder trial and then plays us some music.
The highpoint comes when we get to see and hear the Righteous Brothers perform all of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and are given some insight into its production. You'll find your brain buzzing with the song's exhilarating call and response right through the next Phil Spector rant.
--Review by Harper Barnes
The Big Uneasy
This new documentary about the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans could break your heart, if your heart can still be broken by a documentary. For the fifth anniversary of that terrible time, comic Harry Shearer has written, directed and executive-produced a serious re-consideration of the event to clear up a few misconceptions. What he wants to say is basically covered three ways.
First, the hurricane didn't do the dirty deed, but the Army Corps of Engineers did, and his movie makes a strong, clear, easy-to-understand case.
Second, the people of New Orleans are not mere cry-babies wailing for help instead of getting back to business, they are already back in business.
Third, it could happen again -- not hurricanes, because they always happen, but another government-sponsored disaster on the Mississippi delta.
This movie is not about FEMA's controversial response afterward. This is the story of how the Corps' policies caused the (predicted!) breaches in the walls. The Army Corps of Engineers is uniquely placed to brush off criticism over and over. Since it is part of the Army, its money comes out of the Pentagon, and everyone knows by now that when even the most anti-government politicians say "less government," they emphatically do not mean the military. Furthermore, Pentagon money comes from Congress, and the whole concept of the infamous "pork barrel" is to bring jobs to the local district.
Is there a river or two anywhere near your congressional district? The Army Corps of Engineers will "fix" your river -- and bring jobs to you and your local contractors.
The few interludes of comic relief with John Goodman are not very effective; otherwise the movie works well. But times are hard all over in our new Unnamed Depression, and people may be documentaried-out after living through the Bush-Gore Era.
So, what's the "bottom-line" issue? Simple. It can all happen again.
Back in 1998, estimates for completely restoring the coast, once and for all, were considered too high for even Congress to stomach. In 2005, after the damage, clean-up costs in the first five months were already six times higher than the entire price of the "too-expensive" plan.
Frustrating as it may be to watch, "The Big Uneasy" deserves to get some traction.
--Review by Nick Otten
My Dog Tulip
This remarkable cartoon is available twice in the festival, and I highly recommend it to anybody who loves dogs or would love to see a dog movie about the actual conditions of living with a beloved dog, as opposed to another hopelessly romanticized gush story.
The story is based on the novel-memoir of J.R. Ackerley (1896-1967), a British writer not so well-known in the U.S. He was something of a war hero in World War I. Later he became an editor for the BBC and discovered or promoted young English writers, including W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood.
Ackerley had a dog named Queenie, re-named Tulip for the story, which is otherwise minimally fictionalized, except for concentrating on the dog above nearly all else. Tulip (Queenie), an Alsatian female, was a troublesome handful, but she and Ackerley utterly loved each other. He had the dog for about 15 years, starting when he was about 50, and he uses the relationship to consider any number of human foibles as reflected in people's relationships with their dogs.
Because the story is about real-life with a dog, the plot is filled with bodily functions of all the usual canine kinds, plus the fiasco of the author's extended attempts to get Tulip "married" -- ending with a nearly inevitable class-conscious British moment. Note: If you do not find attendant humor in a long campaign to mate a beloved dog, you will not likely enjoy this movie.
The voice of the author is admirably presented by Christopher Plummer and a few key female voices are played by the late Lynn Redgrave.
Frankly, I don't recommend bringing any younger kids to see this movie, which might be tempting especially for the Saturday matinee, unless your child is particularly mature or seriously wants to be a small-animal veterinarian. Nothing awful happens, but you might find yourself trying to answer some particularly difficult questions that definitely would not come up after a Disney movie.
In any case, viewing this movie may be one of the more thought-provoking experiences of your weekend.
Basically, this simple-looking but sophisticated animation-feature is the kind of story that once seemed terribly British -- full of quiet, thoughtful moments presented so graciously, so appropriately, that for that moment you don't quite realize that something astounding was just said or pictured.
--Review by Nick Otten
"Documentary Shorts: Animals"
This 91-minute set of five movies features strangely dedicated animal lovers of one kind or another, all shown in action with the animals they admire.
- "The Last Elephants in Thailand" is about an elephant hospital dedicated to saving brutalized Asian elephants in that country.
- "Rare Chicken Rescue" follows an Australian man all over the country, finding and identifying some exceptionally odd looking hens and roosters.
- "The Poodle Trainer" shows a curious Russian circus woman with her troupe of impeccably trained dogs.
- "The Herd" gives a glimpse of the bizarre fawn that adopted itself into a herd of Irish cattle.
- "Big Birding Day" describes the birdwatching practice of trying to see the most possible birds in a single day.
The people in these 8-40 minute films are more interesting than the animals.
--Review by Nick Otten
Harper Barnes and Nick Otten write regularly on movies for the Beacon.