Abie,

Thanks for that. However, knowing how one-eyed Steele is, I suspect he would have discerned a deeper darker message. He'll no doubt roll it out in some future crusade, sorry, I mean thread.

Dear SteeleRedux,

There have been quite a few films that
have made quite an impact on me. The first
is "Katyn," by Andrzej Wajda - that dealt
with the Katyn massacre. The second was
called "The Singing Revolution," that dealt
with hundreds of thousands of Estonians fighting
for their freedom from the Soviet Union.

Then of course we have films like - "Inside Job,"
which left me totally gobsmacked. Then there was
the David Frost - Richard Nixon Interview in 1977,
that I got to watch recently.
That was fascinating. And "Downfall," which
showed Hitler's final days in his Berlin bunker.
Then of course there's the gem - "Breaker Morant,"
that always makes a huge impact.

I also recently watched the "Railway Man," starring Colin Firth.
It was an extraordinarily powerful and remarkable film.
A true story. It deals with young British and ANZAC soldiers
who became prisoners of war when the Japanese overran
Singapore. Of course - there's also two more films
that made an impact - "The King's Speech," again with Colin
Firth, and "The Queen" with Helen Mirren.

I'm not sure if this is the type of information that you wanted
from us - but that's it for now from me.

Dear Foxy,

Thank you, good to see you back after ablation #2. Mine was done nearly 7 years ago now and so far so good.

The works you have cited are all very worth in their own right but I was particularly looking to focus on the documentary that captures time and place in a very immediate manner. The Inside Job was excellent and for those who haven't seen it it is also free online here;

http://archive.org/details/cpb20120505a

While there is an obvious difference between it and a film like the King's Speech, the latter being a dramatisation of real events, there still is to some degree staging, setting the scene, and rehearsing questions that ultimately make the Inside Job in turn different to the two I posted at the start. Both of those run with an opportunity, capture the moment, and make the best of lighting, sound and dialogue that presumably have minimal input from the documentary maker. The result can be very raw but for me it often serves to elevate the poignancy of the characters and events. Scott's words to the camera at the 60 minute mark in Small Town Ecstasy had me in near tears.

I am of the opinion therein lies a special skill, a combination of foresight or perhaps more accurately of recognising the possibilities and then having the courage to run with something that sets documentary makers such as these apart. This type of work may well be, to some degree at least, an acquired taste. But for me the real and substantial questions about life and death, about meaning, of distilling the vital over the mundane, all manage to spring from the best of them.

Take for instance this little piece from the Dutch equivalent of our ABC. It is about some cocoa bean farmers in the Ivory Coast. It is certainly not of the breadth of the others flagged here but it certainly garnered some discussion in our household. If you have the time I would be keen to hear your perspective on it to see how it tallied with ours.
http://youtu.be/zEN4hcZutO0

Dear SteeleRedux,

Thank You. So far so good with my Ablation #2.
So fingers-crossed that my end results will
be similar to yours.

"Inside Job" had quite an impact on me.
As did the other films I mentioned.
Each in their own way. The relevance of the "Inside Job,"
to the world we live in today was more immediate and
frightening.

Have you seen any of John Pilger's documentaries?
Especially his most recent - "Utopia"?

I haven't seen it but I would be curious as to your opinion,
if you have. There's been so much controversy surrounding
that film.

Dear Foxy,

I have not watched Utopia but it is on my to do list.

I will admit though my current preference is for documentaries with little to no commentary from the film maker, where the words and actions of those being filmed are what drives the narrative. Of course I am not oblivious to the power in the hands of those doing the editing but being free from being told what to think can be attractive.

Take the cocoa bean farmers presented in my last post. The initial reaction of concern about third world exploitation is joined and eclipsed by a shared delight of those experiencing for the first time the simple, universal, human pleasure of eating chocolate. There was humour, grace and degree of dignity portrayed in the clip.

The discussion here went to Australia's manufacturing decline brought on by our mineral sector growth and not helped by the control mining magnates have over our politics. The iron ore we ship goes to manufacturing powerhouses like China and Japan, to built structures like the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge which at over 164 kms long dwarfs our longest at 2.7kms and accommodates a highspeed rail link that is over 1100 kms long upon which the trains travel at over 300 kms per hour. How many of those workers digging the ore out of the Pilbura will get to experience rail travel like that? Or get to live in places like the extraordinary modern cities currently being built in China.

Dear SteeleRedux,

Most of us don't think too deeply about the
effects films have had on our lives, (and
continue to have). We simply take them for
granted - and we don't often realise that our
consciousness of many historical events -
and our reactions to them rely partly on
filmed images.

There seems to be a need to experience meaningful
life-enriching stories unfolding on the screen.
They can help audiences to re-thin their place in the
world - as your documentaries have obviously done
for you. Film has an exrtraordinary capacity to expand
our reality.

With that thought in mind - The Melbourne International
Film Festival kicks off on 31 July and continues until
17th August. If you happen to be in Melbourne at
sometime during that period, you might want to Google
the program. Just a thought.