CSNY: Deja Vu

First Hit: This is a must see film. It is very powerful, honest, unafraid, and very well done.

This isn’t just a film about the “Freedom of Speech” concert tour; it is a film asking the question: Isn’t anyone else outraged at our government’s involvement in the Iraq War?

Neil Young had written and recorded an album called “Living With War”. He wrote and recorded it in a matter of days, not months.

The album came from his outrage at seeing an article about our great medical technology advancement on hospital planes, but what Young saw was hurt soldiers, and asking why are they hurt? In addition to this article, Neil got tired of watching the constant destruction showing up on the nightly news about our involvement in Iraq and wondering why we were involved in yet another war.

Mike Cerre a reporter, who has been embedded with troops in Vietnam and Iraq, became embedded in the tour to witnessed and report on all the ups and downs.

The film shows interviews of irate people who walk out of the concert because “the bloated hippie millionaires” don’t need to bring politics into their beautiful harmonies as well as interviews with people who were in support of the show.

Ironic that people who hated the show, loved the earlier protest songs (like For What It’s Worth, Ohio, and Military Madness) but didn’t like the current protest songs calling for the impeachment of Bush.

There are film clips throughout the decade of the four of them together and in their earlier respective groups (Byrds, Hollies, Buffalo Springfield) along with interviews from different periods of time. There is an interesting clip of Neil being interviewed by Stephen Colbert who says “why doesn’t someone else have this war (to protest)?”

Neil chimes up and says, I waited for the younger generation to be outraged and stand up, "in fact I waited until I was 60.” Neil also shows the intimate story of a mother who lost a son in Iraq and a story of Josh Hisle who has been to Iraq as a soldier and is featured on one of the songs he wrote there.

Bernard Shakey (Neil) directs and edits the film with a wonderful evenhandedness. He shows the warts, the jewels and everything in-between. He isn’t afraid to show the people who dislike the concert and the reviews that are less than flattering. He also shows the vulnerabilities of the group, their friendship, and the power of art in speaking of a particular truth. There are also wonderful segments about Veterans who are being affected by our government’s lack of effort to help.

Overall: This is a wonderful film with texture, a point to make, laughter, openness, music, joy, and sorrow. I recommend it to everyone, regardless of your point of view. As Neil states in a quote from an interview with Metrolife Music: “Are we forever going to be throwing fireballs at each other like we have for the past 2,000 years? It’s like we eat, we sleep, and we war.”

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

First Hit: Interesting story and well made film about an elusive man who hid behind a caricature of himself and in the end tried to live up to the image.

When I first read “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” in Rolling Stone Magazine I was dumbfounded. I thought, oh my God, somebody can write like this and it gets published.

The man who wrote this and other wonderful tales of life and life on the campaign trail was Hunter S. Thompson. Hunter wrote about the revolution of the 60s and 70s, he ran for sheriff of Aspen, he loved guns, and he had very strong feelings about politicians.

As with many others during this time, drugs and alcohol were a large part of his lifestyle which became part of his stories. The sadness about this approach is that he used the drugs and alcohol as fuel for his writing and with most efforts that rely on this sort of fuel; the piper pays and usually pays early.

Hunter had talent and he squandered much of it away and as the years went by his output became less focused, interesting, and tended to rehash old subjects. A very poignant part of the film was his own admission, and the film’s review, of what it is like when he began to live his legend and perception of himself versus living his life.

Two of the more interesting parts of the film were his discovery of the deep honest truth of Jimmy Carter and George McGovern both of whom I held, and still hold, in high regard as they ran for office.

Director Alex Gibney did a wonderful job of lacing together, interviews, archival footage, and the two previous films made about Hunter. I have tended to be concerned when a bio-documentary is listed at more than 90 minutes in length, but this film used its two hours fully, wisely and judicially.

Overall: This was an interesting film and will probably only reach a limited audience who read some of his stories, knew of him, or is might be interested in Gonzo writing.

Encounter at the End of the World

First Hit: Made interesting because it is both focused and light hearted in approaching the subject of what is it like at the bottom of the earth.

Werner Herzog was captivated by some underwater footage by Henry Kaiser of the unique amazing world below the ice of the South Pole.

Werner makes it clear up front he isn’t going to make penguin movie and when he reaches McMurdo Station in Antarctica he is put off by the constant construction, building and changing of this once pure open place. However, he is fascinated by the people who come here to work and live. As he discovers they are all misfits from society in some way and love what they are doing in this unforgiving land.

The under the ice shots are amazing as are some of the characters but what underlies this film is a sense of heart and depth.

Overall: A very interesting look at the bottom of the world and the people who embrace it.

Up The Yangtze

First Hit: This film isn’t so much about the 3 Gorges dam as it is about the affect of the dam on two teenage kids whose lives it changes.

This is a well crafted film by Chinese filmmaker Yung Chang about two young Chinese teenagers, their lives, and how the huge 3 Gorges dam project affected 2 – 4 million people. There are very view shots of the project itself and there are plenty of shots of markers on hill sides indicating the depth of the soon to be flooded valley.

Cindy Yu Shui is a quiet and shy 16 year old girl whose parents barely eke out a living. They grow their own food so they eat well and they live in a makeshift shanty near the water but neither parent can read or write, have any money, and cannot send their daughter to high school. Her parents decide to send her to work on a Yangtze cruise ship to earn money for the family and for possibly school later.

The other boy is Jerry Chen Bo Yu and he is from a middle class family and thinks very highly of himself. He is arrogant and sees himself as something really special. He hires on to the same boat to make some money and connections.

They both have to learn some English and also receive their English names (Cindy and Jerry) by which they will be referred to while on the boat. The dishwashing work given to Cindy is overwhelming and she breaks down in tears. There is a scene where the boat docks in her hometown and her parents come on board to visit her. It is clear she is happy to see them and embarrassed as well.

Jerry on the other hand, after receiving a $30.00 tip, thinks he’s got the whole world in his hand and begins to angle on how to make more.

This is a soft reflective film which takes it time to share this story and it is nicely done. There are very interesting and powerful scenes a couple of which are: Jerry being fired from the cruise ship because he is arrogant, isn’t a team player, and sees himself as better than everyone else.

The Yangtze River rising up and covering Cindy’s family home.

Cindy going out with her one close friends from the ship and having makeup applied for the first time.

Overall: This is a wonderful film and it brings a real humanness on the impact of this huge construction project on the people who have lived near this river all their lives.

Surfwise

First Hit: What an amazing story of a family that lived, what they believed to be, the way we all should live.

Having grown up in Southern California and surfed San Onofre, I had heard of the Paskowitz family.

Dorian Paskowitz was a Stanford trained physician who heard a different calling. After a couple of failed marriages and attempting to live a life of a material world doctor with a practice, he gave it up to live a life of a health oriented, surfing vagabond providing free medical assistance when possible.

He married Juliette and they ended up having 9 children (8 boys and 1 girl) while living in a series of second hand 24 foot campers.

They traveled all around the US but home base was San Onofre, California. The children didn’t go to school and the family lived off the grid and off the land. And although it seemed like an idyllic life for the kids; as they grew up and left the nest they lacked the educational skills, understanding of how the rest of the world works, and a working temperament to create a living for themselves and therefore they struggled.

This struggle turned in to, in some cases, a lot of anger towards their parents and between some of their siblings. After about 10 years of not being in contact with Dorian and Juliette, and with Doran being in his 80s, the entire family met again in Hawaii to “close the family circle”.

Doug Pray (Director) weaved interviews and old film clips of the family into reasonably well flowing story of their life. Some of the children had more screen time than others. I think, in all the interviews, the family openly shared their thoughts and wide range of feelings about being raised the way they were.

Overall: I like this film because it is an intimate journey and isn’t afraid to discuss the most personal aspects of their life together as a family. And although I think Dorian had a wonderful idea, the execution hurt the kids in many ways.