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Documentary promises to be historic
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Jeff Marker
Updated: Apr 22, 2009, 8:56 PM
Published: Apr 22, 2009, 8:58 PM

Atlanta Film Festival
When: Through Saturday
Where: Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, 931 Monroe Drive NE, Atlanta (in Midtown)
How much: $10 for general screenings; closing night gala is $35
More info: 678-495-1424

We're past the midway point of this year's outstanding edition of the Atlanta Film Festival. Here's a look at a few of the best films to screen so far.

‘The People Speak'

"The People Speak" is an extraordinary film. It manages to be educational, yet inspirational and riveting, qualities few documentaries actually achieve.

Howard Zinn drew from scores of speeches, letters and memoirs when researching his landmark "A People's History of the United States," and later he collected those original sources into the book, "Voices of a People's History of the United States."

"The People Speak" extends this work. It uses Zinn's narration to give background on each era of U.S. history, then we watch actors and musicians (including Viggo Mortensen, Kerry Washington, Marisa Tomei and Bob Dylan) dramatize writings and songs relevant to that period.

At all times, the focus is on the concept of democracy.

Zinn exalts the voice of the common man, the words of ordinary Americans who recognized the abuse of democracy and had the courage to cry foul. These are people who not only stood bravely against physical danger and death, but expressed themselves with staggering eloquence.

"The People Speak" testifies that regardless how difficult it may be, in the United States it is still possible for anyone to change history. The film is a buoyant celebration of dissent, a wake-up call that patriotism does not mean keeping quiet. Democracy is precious, and sometimes we must make trouble in order to make the country stronger.

Ironically, this movie also reminds us of the power of words - regardless of the technologies used to transmit them, the spoken and written word are still the most powerful and persuasive means of expression.

The History Channel will air "The People Speak" later this year (dates to be announced), and producers are planning educational programs to tie into the project. This is a film that seeks to stir up and inspire. Watch for it.

‘Deadland'

World War III has decimated the U.S., reducing the country to 13 "provinces" and leaving everyone infected with a plague caused by radiation. Against this backdrop, everyman Sean Kalos (Gary Weeks) partners with treacherous Jax (Brian Tee) as he battles the elements and rogue military outfits to find his wife Katie (Emily-Grace Murray).

The filmmakers wisely focus on the many intriguing characters, including brilliant crackpot Shiv (William Katt) and surprisingly strong survivor Zoona (Davis Neves), more than the big concept.

"Deadland" is expertly photographed and acted from beginning to end. It was made with a small crew and fewer resources than much of its festival competition, yet the writing and filmmaking rival any indie feature in sophistication. "Deadland" demonstrates what great things can be done by talented people on a shoestring budget. It's a Georgia film of which we can be proud.

‘Moon'

"Moon" seems destined to become a cult classic. It's one of the relatively big budget films using the festival for word of mouth buzz, and an absolute must for science fiction fans.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is nearing the end of a three-year contract running a mining operation on the dark side of the moon. As he draws closer to returning to his wife (Dominique McElligott) and daughter on Earth, he begins hallucinating. These mind games cause an accident that seriously injures Sam, and soon he confronts a replacement employee who throws his entire existence into turmoil.

The visuals and subtle storytelling recall "2001: A Space Odyssey," and Rockwell's performance is by turns intense, hilarious and heartbreaking.

"Moon" does what a great genre movie should - it takes the familiar trademarks of the genre and offers a unique twist.

Jeff Marker is a media studies professor at Gainesville State College.
Revenant a brutal, beautiful gut punch
Grisly grizzly attack launches a raging, unforgiving portrait of man and nature
Film-Review-The-Reven2 Albe
This photo provided by courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox shows, Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass, in a scene from the film, "The Revenant," directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The movie opens for nationwide release Friday.
Cary Darling
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Updated: Jan 7, 2016, 6:00 AM
Published: Jan 6, 2016, 6:18 PM

‘The Revenant’

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson

Rated: R for strong frontier combat and violence including gory images, sexual assault, language, brief nudity

Runtime: 156 minutes

Bottom line: 4.5 of 5 stars

Everything you’ve heard about the bear is true.

The frenzied grizzly-on-man attack in “The Revenant,” director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s brutal and beautiful gut-punch of a film, is such an explosion of ursine rage that it is both hard to watch and fascinating (how did they do that?).

And that is “The Revenant” in a nutshell — a grueling portrait of nature and man at their most unrelenting and unforgiving.

Based on a novel by Michael Punke, which was based on the real experiences of 19th-century frontiersman Hugh Glass — a man who sought retribution against his compatriots who left him to die in the wilderness after a bear mauling — the film may be easy to knock as a self-indulgent showcase for DiCaprio and his Oscar ambitions.

But that would be selling it short. Combining the awe-inspiring vistas of a John Ford Western (it was filmed in rugged western Canada, Argentina and Montana) with the blood-soaked justice of a Sam Peckinpah film, “The Revenant” is a gorgeously shot exercise in survival and revenge that’s definitely not for the squeamish.

DiCaprio is Glass, part of a group of hard-pressed fur traders somewhere in the wild, wild West. It’s a large, unruly squad of men headed by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson), the fair-minded but put-upon leader. An attack by Indians slaughters many of them and sends the rest fleeing.

Expert tracker Glass leads the way, but then he runs across that bear. The rest of the group is left with the decision of carrying a nearly dead Glass, and thus slowing them down, or leaving him alone to let nature finish what the bear started.

Glass’ son, Hawk (Forrest Goodluck), whose mother is Indian, doesn’t want him left behind, but he’s not taken seriously by the group. The only reason he’s around is because of who his father is, and he is outweighed by cantankerous and scarred John Fitzgerald (a nearly unrecognizable Tom Hardy), a man who just wants to get paid and get out of there.

What no one expects is that Glass would not just survive but thrive on the thirst of payback.

It’s a riveting story, made all the more persuasive by Inarritu’s quest for realism. Much has been made of the physically demanding shoot that had many on the production quitting. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the set was called “a living hell” by one crew member.

All that effort shows onscreen. The actors look as if they really have been fighting for their lives, and DiCaprio turns in a visceral, unforgettable performance.

Celebrated cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (“Gravity,” “The Tree of Life”) turns the West into a series of striking tableaux that rival Ansel Adams.

Meanwhile, Inarritu has created a panoramic, foreboding natural world that’s completely the opposite of the claustrophobic, backstage theatricality of his last film, “Birdman.” Whereas that movie was all about language, much of the beauty of “The Revenant” is in the way it uses silence.

The director also deserves a nod for not making the Indians faceless, violent villains as that opening attack implies. Their back story gets filled in during the 156-minute running time and their motives become clear.

“The Revenant” is shot through with a spirituality, as when Glass stumbles across an Indian, Hikuc (Arthur Redcloud), who helps heal him.

While comparisons are inevitable to “The Hateful Eight,” this year’s other long, violent Western about people trying to kill each other, “The Revenant” lacks Quentin Tarantino’s tongue-in-cheek sensibilities — and it’s all the better for it.

Inarritu keeps it straight, simple and deadly. Just like the bear.