Richard’s “Canada AM” interview with documentary filmmaker Errol Morris on his latest film ‘The Unknown Known’ – an in-depth look at the political career of Donald Rumsfeld.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
Thanks to Penn Jillette for talking the time to check out richardcrouse.ca!
Watch the Canada AM review HERE!
Read the review HERE!
“I can’t take any of them out of that situation, but I can put myself into it,” says Rocky Braat, the protagonist of “Blood Brother,” a touching documentary that won both the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. documentary program at Sundance 2013.
The situation Braat refers to is an AIDS hostel in India where he finds a second family among a group of orphans infected with HIV. The Philadelphia-born man grew up in rough circumstances—with a drug addict mother and her abusive boyfriends—and while in his twenties set off to find himself in India.
Coming across the orphanage was a revelation. He fell in love with the indomitable spirit of the kids and soon a quick visit turned into a month long stay. His dedication to the kids is so complete he returned to the US long enough to renew his travel Visa and soon returned, with his best friend, director Steve Hoover, in tow.
The resulting film is a document of the years of hardships and the joys inherent with caring for terminally ill kids.
“Blood Brother” is unquestionably poignant. Braat’s devotion to the children, and to the Indian woman he wants to marry, is complete and indisputable. The document of his devotion provides a window into a huge story, personalizing it enough so as not to be completely overwhelming. But I couldn’t help but feel that the movie’s message may have been more effectively told by shifting focus from the American do-gooder to the kids themselves.
It’s not narcissistic exactly, because the message of the benefits of selfless dedication is so strong, but it may have benefitted from widening the scope of its story.
Lance Armstrong was one of those athletes who transcended his sport. He wasn’t just a cyclist; he became a celebrity known to people who couldn’t even pronounce Tour de France.
When director Alex Gibney embarked on this Lance Armstrong documentary in 2009 it was meant to be a comeback story. After four years away, and seemingly done with the doping scandal that plagued him for years, the racer was planning to not just complete but win the most brutal road race in the world, the 2200 mile Tour de France.
History reminds us that the race wasn’t the comeback he hoped for, marred by a third place finish and new allegations of performance enhancing drugs. Gibney stopped production for several years, returning to the film—with Armstrong’s cooperation—pieced together a portrait of a complex man who allowed hubris and competitive spirit to run amok.
“I didn’t live a lot of lies,” says Armstrong. “I lived one big lie.” It was one huge fib that lasted for his entire career, and arguably made his career. Doping allegations dogged Armstrong his entire career and he did whatever it took, regardless of the repercussions to friends and colleagues, to protect his reputation.
Gibney, an Oscar winner for Taxi to the Dark Side, does a good job at taking us along for the bumpy ride that goes along with being an Armstrong fan. He’s a complicated man who beat cancer and became a hero but whose legacy will be that of a liar who cheated and denied cheating until the weight of evidence was too much to bear.
The movie carefully plots out his downfall, how he is undone by an enormous ego. The bulk of the film takes place during the 2009 race, the beginning of the end for Armstrong’s career, detailing the behavior that leads to one friend suggesting, “doping is bad but abuse of power is worse.”
We all know how “The Armstrong Lie” will end. It’s a portrait of man who lied with a straight face and yet doesn’t seem to quite understand or accept the repercussions of his actions. Fascinating stuff on a complex subject.
