Bombay Beach

Directed by Alma Har'el this documentary follows three residents living in Bombay Beach, Salton Sea, California. This accidental artificial lake became an American Dream, the in scene for wealthy holiday goers and a development scheme boom peaking in the late 1950's. After this it slowly declined to a scene of old, weathered and warn out buildings, with a community of largely poor, working class and retired misfits. Alma Har'el brings us the life of three males living in Bombay Beach, one young child, one teenager and one retired old man. Bringing together three essential parts of manhood in a place that has seemed to have been left behind in the dust for many years, with this you start to understand what has happened to the American Dream and how the people left behind cope with day to day lives during a severely bad economic climate. What makes this documentary stand out from others is the way Alma Har'el has filmed it. With artful photography, dreaklike choreographed dance scenes, juxtapositions of outcasts and oddballs in beautiful scenes rich in the light of sunset and sunrise and moments of uplifting humanity and moments that create a bleak look on reality, this film stands out as a new breed of documentary film making. 

Gun Culture

Lately guns have been part of the headlines on the other side of the pond. With the recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado and just a few days ago Oak Creek, Wisconsin hitting the British News Channels. I don't know enough about the gun laws in America to be able to argue whether the laws need rethinking or not and that's not what this post about. It is however got me thinking about the projects and documentary films I have looked at over the years. Two that stand out for me as defining the gun culture in America are Zed Nelson Gun Nation and Michael Moore Bowling For Columbine. Zed Nelsons project doesn't delve into the stereotypes expected from documentary essays on guns and gun culture in the States, there is no gang-banger flaunting his stash of weapons, no white supremacist in camouflage in a field doing combat training or a lost teen bullied and influenced by violent video games. Instead Zed Nelson looks at the commercial side of fire arms, the NRA and the law abiding citizens that own a range of weapons. The series delves into how something that is seen as a symbol of freedom is also something that is out of control with around 28,000 people losing their lives to fire arms a year[1] The essay makes you sit back and try and understand Americas fascination with such a deadly item. Michael Moores award winning documentary Bowling For Columbine on the other hand questions the need for fire arms and why people can get their hands on them with ease. In one scene Mr Moore walks into a bank and acquires a rifle for just setting up a bank account with said bank. The film came about when Columbine High School, the teachers and students fell victim to a shooting spree and massacre by two of its very own students on April 20th 1999. Both projects are worth having a look over if you haven't all ready as they will broaden your mind on gun culture in the States and bring you away from the stereotypes we are used to seeing and hearing about.

[1] http://www.americanfirearms.org/images/Chart__big.gif