Category Archives: Documentary

Coming to theatres and to VOD today, Friday, November 14: DRUG LORD: THE LEGEND OF SHORTY

Angus Macqueen and Guillermo Galdos’ attempt to find the head of a notorious drug cartel bowed at SXSW earlier this year. The doc went on to Biografilm and Guanajuato. In addition to a limited theatrical release beginning today, Gravitas Ventures makes the doc available day and date on VOD platforms.

Mexico’s Sineloa cartel is said to be responsible for a quarter of the illegal drugs entering the United States, making its head, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a billionaire – and the heir to Capone’s title of “Public Enemy Number One.” Despite his notoriety, El Chapo seemed impossible to catch – but Macqueen and Galdos weren’t so sure about that, prompting them to head up their own investigation into the criminal’s whereabouts. Chronicling their search, set against a narcocorridos soundtrack, the film follows them as they make their way to Culiacan, Sineloa’s home base, witnessing major deals and clear corruption, and even arranging interviews with El Chapo’s own mother. While they seem close to gaining an audience with the man himself in his private sanctuary, he ends up backing out. Before they can regroup, the authorities finally move in, arresting the kingpin mere weeks before the film’s debut at SXSW, which necessitated a new ending to bring the story up to speed before its premiere. While the film demonstrates flashes of style in its untangling of the myths behind the man, it ultimately feels unsatisfying and rushed – an instance where real life developments undercut the filmmakers’ plan.

Newly available on DVD this week: ORNETTE: MADE IN AMERICA

Shirley Clarke’s freeform profile of a modern jazz master debuted at Toronto in 1985. Rarely seen for years, the documentary was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, screened at Berlin in 2012, and was re-released theatrically that same year. In addition to the release of the restored version on DVD, the film comes to Blu-ray for the first time ever.

In what ended up as the pioneering director’s final film, Clarke set out to capture the freewheeling sense of her subject, jazz musician Ornette Coleman, without exactly crafting either a traditional biography or concert film. Elements of both appear, but they’re joined by eclectic flights of fancy, from re-enactments to video game effects, strobelike editing to bizarre lunar animations. Grounding the film is “Skies of America,” the avant-garde score Coleman composed for the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra – in addition to footage of the performance on a day honoring native son Coleman in 1983, it plays in the background throughout Clarke’s unusually constructed, non-linear project, which attempts to convey a sense of Coleman’s humble beginnings; his relationship with his son, also a member of his band; his creative process; and his varied inspirations and influences. Frankly, it’s a tall order – despite its at times refreshing resistance to conventions, the film feels messy rather than strongly connected to Coleman’s work or approach, with the special video effects looking especially dated. Despite this, interviews with the soft-spoken Coleman – and for music lovers, his performance footage – make Clarke’s film a worthwhile, if uneven, watch.