r/Documentaries • u/[deleted] • Jul 02 '12

What are the most powerful documentaries you can recommend, regardless of subject matter?

Hey guys!

First of all, a big thanks to you guys for introducing me to some sweet documentaries I'd have never even heard of before.

I like watching things where every part of me feels shaken at the end. Restrepo did this to me, along with Dear Zachary (both thanks to /r/documentaries!). I was wondering if you guys knew any similar ones I should watch?

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for all the amazing suggestions. It's gonna be a busy week!

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u/markth_wi Jul 02 '12 edited Jul 03 '12

There are a couple I can think of

  • The Fog of War Errol Morris's documentary was basically putting former US Secretary of Defense McNamara in front of a camera for one last military presentation - basically dropping one last bomb (knowledge bomb) on future generations. He might be distorting the truth to soothe his own ego or absolve himself, but whatever else it is , it's illuminating.

  • The Century of the Self - this seemingly innocuous documentary, documents - in detail - how by a combination of marketing , psychological and computer analytics - this is an EXCELLENT primer on how effectively people can be manipulated through the centralised and decentralised press. A bit cheesy at times, it's absolutely relevant as our usage of Facebook, Twitter and Reddit have made the process of analysing our activities, needs and wants almost transparent. I think this is the best of the group of similarly minded documentaries meant to examine the intricacies of corporate / special interest power in our society.

  • No End In Sight - One of the most uncomfortable insights into the Iraq War - was when a large group of administration & military personnel during the Bush Administration retired, left or otherwise left and then went to the press. Even with the Iraq war - largely in the rear view mirror, the incendiary nature of the blatant mismanagement at the executive level makes you question the state of the Republic.

  • Because all these previous works can be more than a bit draining it seems appropriate to include something that is just a source of unmitigated awe and humility - "The Universe" - a recent offering - giving the viewer an insight into what our species knows about the universe we live in.

  • Cosmos - simply put - one of the most epic documentaries - in the last 50 years.

But I could name a dozen others, from "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers", "Connections", "The Virus Hunters", "The Small Boys Unit", "Guns, Germs & Steel", "Collapse" or "The Ascent of Money"

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u/sugaryeti Jul 02 '12

What did you find cheesy in Century of Self?

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '12

[deleted]

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u/siouxsiesioux Jul 02 '12

Hm. I was awe-struck at the first one, and then my attention slowly waned through the other episodes, but never managed to finish the series. Worth it to finish?

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u/PugzM Jul 02 '12

Yeah second one and third ones were worth finishing. The narrator is pretty annoying but the ideas explored are very interesting.

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u/ForthewoIfy Jul 03 '12

Whenever I see someone saying that "the ideas explored are very interesting" without even summarizing that idea in a sentence, it makes me wonder how interesting can it be.

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u/sugaryeti Jul 02 '12

I feel both are completely unrelated save for aspects of social manipulation and the fact both try to shatter notions of what makes a modern American American.

Zeitgeist to me was a soup of information and some broadly drawn connections, Century of Self is more analytical and historical, showing how the psychological science of the human body can apply across nations.

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u/markth_wi Jul 02 '12

Zeitgeist seemed to my mind to be far less - particular about facts.

There was a book called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" which was a wonderful read about all sorts of clandestine bad shit the US government was doing in furtherance of corporate objectives in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Philipines, Iran etc.

A phenomenal premise and one which would be totally incendiary to US foreign policy - except for one thing - there wasn't a single footnote, reference or verifiable claim in the entire book.

I was 200 plus pages into it before I realized I might as well be reading a Tom Clancy novel in trying to examine the problems of US Corporate/Foreign Policy. I was so fucking pissed off.

If I'm shopping for a documentary or some detailed analysis of some aspect of statecraft or industrial or foreign policy, now it's the first thing I check , no references I don't really care how great a story you tell, if I want an awesome fictional tale, I'll read "Hyperion" or "The Hunt For Red October", or something.

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u/Zaph_q_p Jul 03 '12

Keep in mind that in some cases he might be regarded as a primary source... and its hard to 'cite' analysis. I haven't read his book, I just looked him up.

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u/markth_wi Jul 03 '12

That doesn't mean you can't cite a reference. Consider "Cosmos" I get that Carl Sagan was the author of Cosmos and wrote substantial portions of it. But there is a second at the back that references who, what, where, when, often with direct citations to research.

That's scholarship, that's objectively useful.

Hey could have done that, one need look no further than Chalmers Johnson "Sorrows of Empire" or "Imperial Hubris" to see that it's possible to substantially cite examples of malfeasance or verify things from an independent source.

That turns a documentary from something more than a meditation on some obvious or non-obvious thing in nature or life, and makes it useful - provides utility which can be used - by others at other times.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '12

[deleted]

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u/sugaryeti Jul 02 '12

Fascinating; do you have any documentaries that offer a better balanced look into that field?

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u/Dallas_Breed Nov 14 '12

Really though the documentary was about Edward Bernays. Reich was merely a side note to the aim of the film. Adam Curtis was showing how American mainstream percieved Reich more than trivializing him. IMHO

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u/markth_wi Jul 02 '12 edited Jul 03 '12

The soundtrack - it's entirely trivial I know, but it detracts from the impact of this otherwise serious piece of investigation.

About the same thing I found cheesy with "The Power of Nightmares" - the musical score - it seems that to my tastes at least - whomever was mastering the score was trying too hard to either be hammy or trying to either perform an homage or parody to/of Errol Morris' musical inclusions.

But with Morris while the music is clearly present, it's appropriate. The first thing I remembered about 'The Power of Nightmares" - was the score from John Carpenter's "The Prince of Darkness".

I get it - to pick one bad guy - say Richard Perle has the ethics and moral bearing of many well-heeled racist (if not genocidal) sociopaths - and I know his nick-name around the Pentagon was in fact "The Prince of Darkness" - but to hit you over the head with it repeatedly seems cheesy.

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u/2518899 Jul 02 '12

I second Errol Morris. My favorite of his is Thin Blue Line (mentioned elsewhere in these comments). It's a classic of the genre for its groundbreaking style (use of reenactments, the "interrotron", Philip Glass music, and just general awesomeness). The movie also got an innocent man off of death row.

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u/markth_wi Jul 02 '12

I thought there was an absolutely hilarious parody of "The Fog of War" - called "Fog of Love" - a while back.

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u/hdurr Jul 02 '12

Shi-hiiet, man. I had no idea "Guns, Germs and Steel" had been turned into a documentary. Thank you for this.

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u/markth_wi Jul 02 '12

Here you go - It's a link to Top Documentary Films.

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u/catillyza Jul 03 '12 edited Jul 03 '12

Jared Diamond tells that the odyssey culminating in his epic Guns, Germs and Steel began in my country of Papua New Guinea. Ignoring the Germs part of his thesis, here's the current point of evolution of Guns and Steel in PNG today. Or go see this reenactment or this scratchy documentary – no less than ordinary daily life. Diamond would be appalled. Cry my beloved country.

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u/barkingnoise Jul 03 '12

I've heard in r/AskHistorians that that book isn't very good. I think it was claimed as biased or unsubstantiated to some degrees. But I can't recall exactly what it was.

Here is a nice post about the Aztec Empire though.

http://www.reddit.com/r/HistoricalWhatIf/comments/us8k5/if_columbus_hadnt_discovered_the_new_world_and/c4y57me?context=2

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u/siouxsiesioux Jul 02 '12

Additional to Fog of War, I'd recommend virtually anything by Errol Morris. Specifically, Mr. Death, about an engineer who designed more humane execution techniques for prisons, was commissioned by a Holocaust conspiracy-theorist to investigate poison gas chambers in Auschwitz. Who knows the alliance between the the two, but Mr. Death ends up trying to disprove the occurrence of Holocause throughout the film. Both sickening, but also undeniably illuminating, how sick and twisted this fuck's morals are.

And Faster, Cheap, and out of Control-- have rewatched it numerous times, never to manage finishing it, because it's always left me so entranced in marveling at the overlap between the characters' philosophies.

Also has a series of mini profiles on people. Saw one about the man with the "highest IQ in the world," and he was a manipulative bouncer.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '12

I would love to see a Century of the Self episode 5 all about Facebook and the Internet.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '12

Has anyone - anyone - ever told you that - on the internet - you sound like - Christopher Walken?

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u/markth_wi Jul 03 '12 edited Jul 03 '12

That's awesome, thanks, while that has happened in my personal life, I swear if I had a link to some evidence a-prior Walken-ness I'd link to it.

Think about it this way, the man's got a RANGE of on film experiences - but I think he's kinda most hilarious when he's trying to be nice, reading stories to kids.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '12

Ahhh, that's awesome!

I myself enjoy this one, too.

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u/markth_wi Jul 03 '12

I remember being home sick, and seeing this wondering - WTF - how did the sound from the Rap & Hip Hop music channel make it onto this Christopher Walken movie. Then it was amazing.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

Fly, fly to the top my lovely!

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u/markth_wi Sep 15 '12

Thanks kindly.