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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Kingdom of Us (2017) in Movies

Oct 22, 2017 (Updated Oct 22, 2017)

Kingdom of Us (2017)

2017 | Biography, Documentary, Drama

9.5

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Poignant, heartbreaking and complex

Another superb documentary film on Netflix exploring the complexities of bereavement, in this case, a family of seven children and their father who took his own life.

The filmmaker follows the journey of the Shanks children, now teenagers and young adults, who six years later are still trying to make sense of their loss. Issues include mental health problems, and dealing with trauma especially with four of the teens suffering from autism. Each person deals with it differently, ranging from creating music, becoming philosophical, to having a full-blown nervous breakdown.

Mother Vikie is incredibly stoic, attempting to keep order despite the horrendous upheaval from the death. There's some disturbing scenes in which the children discuss finding a note in which their father had originally planned to kill them before committing suicide. It is heartbreaking to watch how it has both scarred and shaped the family, but they courageously attempt to pull together as one unit. A must-watch documentary.

Kudos

The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast

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Podcast

This podcast is a collection of interviews & lectures, some of which are recorded specifically for...

Alan Arkin recommended Seven Samurai (1954) in Movies (curated)

Seven Samurai (1954)

1954 | Action, Adventure, Drama

7.7

(19 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"Whenever I watch Seven Samurai I am immediately transported to sixteenth-century Japan. No analysis is possible, no appreciation of performance, direction, camera work, music. Somehow, I'm left feeling that miraculously, Kurosawa found a way to dig up a 400-year-old Japanese documentary. It’s a film completely devoid of artifice or ego. I have seen many of the actors in other films, but I always feel as if they’ve made some mistake, that their true identity lies in Seven Samurai. Like few films I have ever seen, this one somehow makes me feel ennobled. It’s visual Beethoven."

Source

Kudos

Nadine Shah recommended 20,000 Days on Earth (2014) in Movies (curated)

20,000 Days on Earth (2014)

2014 | Documentary, Drama, Music

3.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"When you’ve got a favourite artist, you want to know everything about them, from their favourite colour to what they have for breakfast, and you get that with this Nick Cave documentary. It’s clear how every detail has been carefully and thoughtfully curated by him. I love the glimpse into the friendship between him and Warren Ellis when they’re discussing the time they met Nina Simone, and she said what she wanted to have after her gig: “I want champagne, cocaine and sausages!” They look like little boys when telling the story. It’s a beautiful insight into their world outside of music-making"

Source

Kudos

Always for Pleasure (1978)

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Movie

A look at the spirit of New Orleans. First a funeral: Allen Toussaint explains that you arrive slow...

Mzansi Beat Code by Spoek Mathambo

2.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Album Watch

Prolific South African producer/DJ/song writer/film maker, Spoek Mathambo returns with a new album...

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) in Movies

May 25, 2020

Playful, technically impressive and possibly very influential wildlife documentary. Scientist Nils Hellstrom, PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), MS (Master of Science), and WF (Wholly Fictitious), expresses his fears for the future of the human race, believing we are likely to be outcompeted by insects in every respect. Startling and occasionally grisly clips showing the lives of insects and other arthropods illustrate his thesis in great detail.

Well, Hellstrom (or more accurately writer David Seltzer, who went on to script The Omen twice) isn't a great biologist (he refers to insects as a species rather than a class), but the photography in the film is great and Lawrence Pressman's well-judged performance adds a lot to the impression the film makes: it's tongue in cheek, but still thought-provoking. As a gimmick to make people watch a wildlife documentary, it's an interesting one; you can sense echoes of this film's innovative use of music and narrative to add drama in many much more respectable nature documentaries (most of David Attenborough's blockbuster series, for instance). An oddity, but a good one.