True Films: 2010 : March

Food, Inc.

Food, Inc. is a very smart, very visual explanation of the industrial nature of our food system. Some of the characters and arguments are repeated from Michael Pollan’s bestseller, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (which I have reviewed previously), and Pollan plays a large role in this film. Like the book, this film makes a very memorable case for the downsides of agribusiness, although, unlike the book, it is light on solutions. Nonetheless, the film is eye-opening, head-shaking, and disturbing in a good way. If you eat in America, you really should see this film to get a sense of what you are eating. It’s one of a handful of true films than change people’s behavior.

— KK

Food, Inc.
Robert Kenner
2008, 94 minutes
$3, Amazon Instant Video rental

Official website

The September Issue

The Hollywood hit, The Devil Wears Prada, fictionalized the life of legendary fashion magazine editor Anna Wintour. As Editor-in-Chief of Vogue for several decades, Wintour has become the most powerful person in the global fashion industry, and she has long had a reputation for wielding her power coldly — thus the tyrant in the movie portrayed by Meryl Streep. However in The September Issue we get to see the actual Anna Winatour, and surprisingly I found her very likeable. She is filmed overseeing the fattest-ever issue of Vogue (September, 2007), a huge undertaking, while dealing with temperamental photographers, stylists, designers and advertisers. Although billed as a profile of Wintour, this film is really a profile of a magazine. The drama present in making the September issue only rehearses the drama present every month and in almost any large, national magazine. It reminded me of my own time spent at Wired (now owned by the same people who run Vogue). This documentary is about talented people trying to amaze and surprise, who keep seeking excellence, even at the cost of bruised egos. It’s a wonderful inside peek at how great magazines are produced, even if it does not crack the reserve of Anna Wintour. The people around her, who do all the creative work, are very open to the camera, and they make their genius transparent.

— KK

The September Issue
R.J. Cutler
2008, 90 min.
DVD, $9

Good Hair

This documentary explores the extreme lengths that black women in America go to to straighten their naturally curly hair. There’s a lot of identity, gender and beauty politics wrapped up in their expensive, and at times painful, solutions. This documentary could have been an important but boring film, but comedian Chris Rock adds laughs to curl an otherwise straight subject. The result is funny, at times hilarious, but also deeply thought-provoking, and even informative (who knew black women’s hair weaves all came from one temple in India?). This is a fantastic true film because it illuminates the complex invisible world that hides right behind an everyday common thing — straight hair on black women. I’ve seen it twice already.

–KK

Good Hair
Jeff Stilson
2009, 95 min.
$3, Amazon Instant Video rental