The Gatekeepers
Crit
Interviews with the six surviving heads of Shin Bet, which is to say with men once professionally responsible for the security of Israel, which is to say, in the context of political imperatives, professionally responsible for repressing, and on occasion assassinating, Palestinians. No two of the six have exactly the same take on their tenures, of course, but all illustrate (though I'm sure not all would endorse) the remark of one that when confronted with what is necessary to an occupying people, "you become a bit of a leftist."The most revelatory part of the film focused on terrorism from within, in particular the plot to blow up the Dome of the Rock, which almost certainly would have brought down the wrath of the entire Islamic world on Israel--and whose convicted conspirators were able to pull political and judicial strings to escape with slaps on the wrist.
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga
Crit
Another wonderful documentary by Werner Herzog, this one one trapping/hunting/fishing folk from northern Siberia. Happy does not mean happy-go-lucky--nature is notoriously red in tooth and claw, and these people have to operate in that nature, but no one of them seems ever to have worried about a lost cell phone signal or slow download speeds, and there's much to be said for that. Also: puppies!Oh, and if you're familiar with Herzog's narrative voice, you'll understand when I say it was worth the price of admission just to hear him speak this sentence, when a campaigning politician brings musical entertainment to the village: "Only the young people seem to be able to get into the groove."
Trailers
- The Internship--For the love of god, stop Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson before they bomb again!
- Trance--New from Danny Boyle, so I'm in.
- Mud--Crime (maybe) and punishment on an island in Huck Finn's river.
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