Louis Theroux L.A Stories
What would a documentary list be without Louis?! As far as I'm aware this was his last documentary series, although he does have a new one out this year HELL YES. The series is made up of 3 stand alone documentaries- Among the Sex Offenders, City of Dogs and Edge of Life. As you can imagine the sex offenders one is particularly uncomfortable but Louis always has the best ability to get a lot out the people he speaks to, he offers opinions but goes into exploring difficult subjects with an open mind. I think his neutral approach to often difficult topics works extremely well and allows the subjects of the documentary to open up more to him than they would if someone like Paxman were just berating them and wagging a finger in their face, imagine. This in no way means Louis panders to them, or sympathizes with people who have committed horrific atrocities he just gives room for the story to unfold with the knowledge that his viewers are intelligent enough to make up their own minds. It's not all doom and gloom though, in 'The City of Dogs' he meets a delightfully wacky character who goes by the name 'Dogman' a burly dude who goes around rescuing dogs and rehabilitating them. I wanted to hug the guy, he's just awesome, oh and he walks around head to toe in camo- the world needs more gems like this guy.
What Happened Miss Simone
If I'm honest I don't even listen to Nina Simone's music, so the fact that I'm not a fan, not even a casual one really and I liked this documentary so much is a testiment to just how good it is. I think the best kind of documentaries are ones that you can watch about a subject you have no real interest in and you end up really enjoying and taking something away from it, in spite of this. This is not to say that I've not heard of Nina's songs or appreciated her powerful unique voice, I just didn't wack her music on ever really. Now onto the doc... Nina lead a very tumultuous life, riddled with mental health issues. The documentary takes you through the highs and lows of her colourful life as a musician, black power icon, lover, friend and recording legend. Parts of this documentary I found to be extremely sad as she appeared to be such a tortured soul but someone with so much to give and such an immeasurable amount of musical talent.
Montage Of Heck
Another music documentary, this is a look into the life and tragic death of Kurt Cobain. I particularly enjoyed the use of animation throughout this to tell parts of Kurts story, rather than it just being footage of the people close to him being interviewed. I'd already read a biography about Kurt when I was much younger- Heavier Than Heaven by Charles Cross so I was fairly familiar with parts of his story but this documentary felt like a lot more personal, undoubtedly due to the fact that Courtney Love and their daughter Francis Bean Cobain were co-producers. It's also the first documentary made with the involvement of Kurt's family which meant access to their family archives. With the use of previously unheard recordings, diary entries and art work we are given an insight into Kurt's state of mind and inner turmoil as he struggled with family conflict and then fame when Nirvana shot to stardom.
Making A Murderer
If you haven't heard of this yet I'm going to have to question whether you've taken a very lengthy holiday under a rock in a far off island for the last 6 months? You'll have no doubt been told relentlessly how this is LYK SO SO GOOD and shocking and gripping and all the rest, that's because.. well.. it is. So if you are in the 0.00000001% of people who haven't watched this and the entire story and all its LYK SO SHOCKING details haven't been relayed to you yet, wack it on. Prepare to get annoyed at the judicial system/ the cops and feel especially sorry for Brendan, I mean c'mon...
The House I Live In
I'd say this is the most important out of all of these documentaries, I decided to save the best 'til last I guess. This is the kind of documentary they need to show in schools, it's one big eye opener. It documents the history of Americas 'War on Drugs' and the futility of it. The documentary explores the human rights implications that this long running campaign has had on American citizens and heavily questions issues like the lengthy sentences in place in the American legal system for non violent drug crimes. The House I Live In questions how effective this stance against illegal drugs has been and the negative effects it has had on many communities in America, particularly the disadvantaged black community. I learnt so much from watching this, especially to do with the history of the legality of drugs and how certain communities have been targeted through the implication of extremely harsh drug laws that don't help to tackle the real underlying problem. It's a tricky one to write about without going off into tangents about every individual issue so instead I urge you to watch this trailer and then if you haven't seen it yet it's definitely worth checking out the full length documentary if you'd like to learn more.
I hope you enjoyed my list of Netflix picks and you found something in the bunch that that takes your fancy. Any excuse for a Netflix binge right?
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