Category Archives: Recommendations

New to DVD this week: IN THE BASEMENT

Ulrich Seidl’s exploration of what happens in Austrians’ inner sanctums made its bow at Venice in 2014. Other fest berths included CPH:DOX, London, Montreal, Zurich, Thessaloniki Doc, Hong Kong, BAFICI, Docs Against Gravity, Melbourne, Sydney, and Sidewalk.

Seidl offers a survey of both the innocuous – smoking teens, model train enthusiasts – and the extreme – SM dungeons, Nazi memorabilia – in the basements of his fellow countrymen and women. Artfully, precisely filmed, often in wide, static shots, these spaces are presented as tableaux, inviting the viewer to gaze upon that which is often kept private. While Seidl includes some deliberately staged sequences – notably, the older woman who fusses over creepy lifelike dolls – the majority of the proceedings seem to be authentic, and carry unusual power precisely because they are presented so matter-of-factly. At the same time, interviews with participants are sometimes more affecting than the images are perhaps meant to be, with a former victim of domestic abuse turned masochist notably disturbing, and a prostitute’s skinny john’s humblebrags about his ejaculations disarmingly funny.

New to DVD this week: NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE

Andrea Kalin’s portrait of GYN surgeons who moonlight as a rock band has screened extensively since 2013. Fest engagements have included the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival, Awareness Film Festival, Cinequest, and Australia’s Big Picture Film Festival.

I previously wrote about the doc here.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, January 12: HOW TO SMELL A ROSE: A VISIT WITH RICKY LEACOCK IN NORMANDY

Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht’s portrait of the pioneering documentary filmmaker made its debut at Telluride in 2014. Its extensive fest circuit included the New York Film Festival, IDFA, Hot Docs, It’s All True, Thessaloniki Doc, Cinema du Reel, San Francisco, DocAviv, Biografilm, and New Zealand, among others.

Blank’s last film documents a freeflowing meeting in 2000 with one of the originators of direct cinema, which doubles as both a biography and a documentary history lesson. Completed by Blank’s longtime creative partner and editor Leibrecht after his death in 2013, their portrait also serves as a joyful tribute to Leacock, who died in 2011, and who was something of a mentor to Blank. In the film, Leacock shares personal memories, demonstrates his French cookery, and reflects on his impressive body of work, illustrated through still captivating clips from classic nonfiction that reaches back to Robert Flaherty’s LOUISIANA STORY, which he shot in 1948. Throughout, Blank, following the lead of Leacock, provides the viewer with the wondrous, truthful feeling of “being there,” making for a buoyant appreciation of life and art.

Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, January 12: THE LOOK OF SILENCE

Joshua Oppenheimer’s companion to THE ACT OF KILLING made its premiere at Venice in 2014. Screenings have followed at DOC NYC, the New York Film Festival, Toronto, Human Rights Watch, True/False, Hamptons, SXSW, and Abu Dhabi, among other fests. It has been shortlisted for the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award.

I previously wrote about the doc upon its theatrical release here.