Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 22: HARPER LEE: FROM MOCKINGBIRD TO WATCHMAN

Mary McDonagh Murphy’s updated version of her previous Harper Lee film debuted on VOD this past July, timed to coincide with the publication of GO SET A WATCHMAN.

I previously wrote about the previous version of the doc, HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in 2011 here. McDonagh Murphy essentially keeps the spine of the original film, but incorporates elements related to WATCHMAN, aiming to counter the speculation and criticism engendered by the surprise release of Lee’s second novel more than a half century after MOCKINGBIRD‘s initial release. Among the tidbits noted here are that, contrary to rumor, WATCHMAN was not a first draft that became the beloved classic; instead, Lee and her editor diligently reworked a separate, related collection of short stories called ATTICUS into MOCKINGBIRD, while drawing some elements from the completed WATCHMAN. Significantly, the film also dismisses claims that Lee never wanted WATCHMAN published, or that dementia was a factor in allowing the manuscript to be published. Finally, McDonagh Murphy’s interviews, including with Lee’s aged sister and with the literary patrons who enabled her writing, yield information about other novels the author had planned, as well as the suggestion that there are other, more recently written works waiting to be discovered. While the film is fairly rudimentary on a technical level, it offers welcome insight about Lee and her work.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 18: THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD

Peter Anthony’s hybrid account of mankind’s closest brush with nuclear destruction debuted at Woodstock last year. It also screened at CPH:DOX, Denver, Docville, and the International Uranium festival.

On an innocuous evening on September 26, 1983, an unassuming Soviet lieutenant named Stanislav Petrov made a split second decision that averted assured armageddon. Warned by malfunctioning Russian computer detection systems of an incoming American missile strike, his cool head prevailed over protocol, which demanded immediate retaliation. The world wouldn’t know of his pivotal act for years to come, and party officials downplayed the incident internally. In the post-Cold War years, Petrov’s life unravels, and he descends into alcoholism and bitterness. Sadly, despite the drama and pathos at the core of the story, Anthony fails to trust his material and instead muddies the waters in his retelling by wrong-headedly incorporating a messy and utterly unnecessary fictional element, as well as a general sense of staginess, to the whole proceeding. The resultant docudrama is a hokey, ineffective misfire, and distracts from the stark reality of the fascinating, singular incident which could have changed life on the planet.

Coming to theatres today, Friday, September 18: JEREMY SCOTT: THE PEOPLE’S DESIGNER

Vlad Yudin’s portrait of the celebrity fashion designer debuted in Los Angeles last week. After a premiere screening earlier this week, it now comes to theatres across the country.

Approached by Yudin before the public announcement of Scott’s appointment as Creative Director at Moschino, the film does double duty exploring the designer’s past while he prepares for his first collection for the Italian fashion house in need of reinvigoration. While chiefly in the hagiographic terrain, the portrait refreshingly does acknowledge that Scott’s outré pop culture pastiches aren’t a slamdunk with all the critics. Ultimately a breezy, harmless project, Yudin’s film isn’t likely to become as memorable as other fashion-focused docs like THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE or VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR, but it accomplishes its goals of presenting its subject as a relatable, fun outsider-turned-inside.