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Re: As a documentary filmmaker myself... (long)

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on January 24, 2005 at 08:38:13

In Reply to: As a documentary filmmaker myself... (long) posted by EBerlin on January 22, 2005 at 17:43:00:

I would agree in that I would not call Burn's films "documentaries", for the same reason that I would not call Michael Moore's films "documentaries." Turn the camera on, let it roll, and force the subjects themselves to persuade to one side or the other.

But why blame Burns if people call them "documentaries?" I suspect it is more about the need of the people who market them to catagorize them that anything Burns has said or done. People refer to them that way because there is a need to catagorize what they are, and because the style is similar to a "documentary", that is how they are labelled. If they were not labelled as such, where would you look for them in the video store. I have read musicians complaining that their music is placed in a section they do not approve. Well, they got to go somewhere.

Burns has said that when he began "Jazz", he knew nothing of the subject matter. He only learned about jazz from putting the film together. He did not conver the last 40 years of jazz? Funny, I have heard many critics complain that all current straight jazz players simply recycle. Read Downbeat lately? That opinion reflects many in the jazz community. You may not agree, and I would not, but because you do not agree does not make the film bad. In order to devote time to the 60's period forward, what should he have taken out? And if there were people who got turned on to jazz by the film, then I am happy, quibbles aside.

His style succeeds in presenting almost impossibly large subjects into manageable levels which can be presented as best as possible. I appreciate that he uses historians, the actual people who were responsible for the subject, and, in the case of the civil war, actual correspondence to paint the picture. Perfect? No. But there has not been a more informative film on Baseball. Field of Dreams was good, but I learned nothing. Glory was exhilirating, but again, I learned very little.

The point of his films is to educate, and flame curiosity in the subject matter, so that the viewer (hopefully) develops interest. I suspect that is all any filmmaker can hope to accomplish.

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