Review: God's Architects

God's Architects
Documentary
Academic Complex
23 March 2010

This film seeks to explore five men who all proclaim to be divinely inspired, by God, to construct unique creations in different areas around the U.S. These men do not get paid for their work; rather, they do it for reasons that are very personal. This is the most engaging aspect of the film: none of these men have a greedy or financial motive. As the film chronicles these men and their work we begin to see how and why they made the decision to attempt such an unconventional task. The stories become interwoven, revealing both parallels amongst the creators as well as a clear understanding of who these people are.
Visually speaking, this film has some pretty incredible shots of not only their creations (which are bizarre, but fascinating to view), but the areas and locations surrounding their constructions. For instance, Leonard Knight (one of the architects) lives in the middle of a desert in California and is working on painting a mountain titled "God is Love". The enormous structure, which is made up of hundreds of different colors and God knows how many buckets of paint, is in the midst of nothing but dirt and sand. Yet, there is something beautiful about the extreme contrast in color. This is just one example, but throughout the entire film we constantly see contrast of these man-made structures with beautiful shots of nature. Similarly, the music choice further enhances the visual aspect of the film by blending violin/piano pieces with some vocal-choir/church music. This is highly appropriate due to the faith driven aspect of the film. Another aspect that drove the film was the editing style. Instead of showing each architect and their story in sequential order, one following the next, Godshall decided to interweave the stories, cutting back and forth from one architect to the next. Not only did this make the film more interesting and intriguing, but it also reveals the skill and patience that went into completing this task successfully.
Although I really enjoyed the film, one problem I had relates to the tone and mood. At times I felt confused on how I was supposed to feel after viewing a particular scene. As a result, I found my self laughing at moments that may not have been intended to be comical. The film presented itself as a drama, but some characters were so absurd and off-the-wall that I didn't know whether to laugh, sympathize, or simply, be entertained. However, despite this personal flaw, I believe the film successfully accomplished its goal: to depict a range of men whose creativeness was motivated by faith, whether resulting from loss of a loved one, keeping a promise, or divine intervention.

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention
Documentary/Music
Academic Complex
16 February 2010

This documentary focuses on the life of Trimpin, a composer/inventor whose music is like nothing you have ever heard before. The film chronicles his life and his attempt to create something completely original and unique...music manifest in every object. It traces back to his childhood, revealing the origins that made him the "mad scientist of music" that he is today. It portrays the difficultly in attempting to sell his music to a mass audience, particularly an audience that will allow him complete artistic control of his concerts and, more importantly, an actual venue to perform. Once he has finally gotten approval to begin performing these 'futuristic-symphonies,' his life dream, it ends on a very thought provoking note: it will take him the remainder of his lifetime to truly grasp, and master the concept of his music.
One thing that I found very interesting was that the entire film's score was Trimpin's orginal music that he had composed over the course of his life. This element gave the film a very personal and realistic overtone. I truly felt as though I was inside the mind of a completely unique human being, a Motzart of the 21st century. Much like I felt after watching the documentary Man on Wire, I felt privledged to be able to peer into Trimpin's head and look what was inside. Very few people in this world appreciate the most minute aspects of life, such as the sound a river makes when it runs through logs or the sound of a marble circulating a glass track. Trimpin is a minority who falls under this category. Essentially, this almost childlike quality is the epitome of his artistic success. This movie serves as a great inspiration to anyone who is attempting to create anything, music, film, art, etc. On a different note, I really liked how the director chose not to incorporate the technological aspect of actually constructing these instruments, for I fear that if he had, the film would have lost the overall message it was trying to convey. I can honestly say that there isn't anything I would have done differently, and I can safely assume that Trimpin himself would say the same.

Review: Blessed is the Match: the Life and Death of Hannah Senesh

Blessed is the Match: the Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
Documentary/drama
Recital Hall
24 January 2010

To begin, this film tells the fascinating, yet relatively unknown, story of Hannah Senesh, a young Jewish girl who was a poet, farmer, philosopher, and most of all a hero. Growing up in Hungary, Hannah was a very gifted child who, against her mother's wishes, made the decision to not attend college and pursue an agricultural career in Palestine. Fortunately, for her sake, she couldn't have left Hungary at a better time, seeing as the Nazi's would occupy that territory not too long after her departure. For the first time, Hannah begins to see the persecutaion of her heritage and, as a result, felt a spiritual calling to join a resistance group and become a paratrooper in an attempt to try and help save some of her fellow people who were in the midst of a horrible genocide. Unfortunately, Hannah is discovered by a Gustapo officer, captured, brutally tortured, sent to trial, convicted of her crimes by her own native country, and ultimately, executed. Not only is this film very educational and emotional, it is very artistic-with very beautiful black and white cinematography and music that is so haunting that it literally sends shivers down your spine. Also, it was great that the producers had acquired so many photos that Hannah had taken, her poetry, and her personal diary. These personal items were the driving force behind the success of making this incredible story come to life.
Typically, in my viewing experience of documentaries, one consistent problem lies within the film that is incorperated in the documentary whenever real-life footage is not available. For the most part, these 'films within a film' usually look cheap, hurridly put together, and have an artistic value equal to that of the masterminds behind films like Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans. I can safely say that, for this film, this is certainly not the case. It was shot in a very clean black and white, with excellent camera work and actors who, although had very few lines of dialogue, conveyed expressions and emotions that continued to make the audience sympathize despite knowing that these were not the actual real life people that were being portrayed. Also, the way this story was told was simple, but perfect. It literally went from the begining of her life to her final days spent inside a Jewish prison with her mother, on the outside, watching her inevitable and horrific fate unfold. Essentially, this is a near-perfect documentary-one that engages the audience emotionally while still reporting the facts and the history behind this tradgic story. In retrospect, Hannah Senesh was truly a great hero, a person whose characteristics, as beautifully said by one of her prison mates and friends, consisted of a perfect combination of "courage and gentleness."