25 Greatest Documentaries Of All Time: Part 1
Though documentaries have been around as long as cinema itself, it is only within the past decade or so that they have started to really gain widespread acceptance. Traditionally marginalized as “academic” or “high-brow” filmmaking, the humble documentary has found a home in an age where authenticity and accessibility have grown to be core cultural values. Also, a core cultural value in this modern age are lists: as everything needs to be placed and ranked in its proper order. This phenomenon has led to canons being established for every niche one can think of, documentaries included. Everything can be checked and cross-referenced to come to a general consensus on what product, cultural media, fruit really is the best.
Well, in this list, I am going to try to deviate from that canon somewhat, though it is impossible to escape entirely. Some films are canonized for good reason. Others are done so for their importance to the development and expansion of the medium, and in the case of documentary those films are The Thin Blue Line and Roger & Me by Errol Morris and Michael Moore, respectively. They are without a doubt transgressive and captivating films, that had a wide cultural impact far beyond their roles as entertainment.
But they will not appear on this list. Though I will make no efforts to intentionally eschew the established documentary canon, and in some instances I will indeed fall right in line with its established order, this is intended to be a highly subjective roundup of films. The following does not purport to contain the 25 most essential, or objectively the best docs, these are merely the films that are come to mind when the question is posed, “Hey, what are the 25 greatest documentaries of all time again?”
note: I did put a moratorium on documentaries released within the last five years to give historical context a chance to have its say.
25. Crazy Love (2007)
Directed by Dan Klores and Fisher Stevens
I wanted to start out this list with an amazing film that rarely gets much as much love as is at the center of its narrative. Crazy Love tells the story of Burt Pugach and his stalker-level fixation with Linda Riss. It’s that classic tale: boy sees girl, boy falls in love, girl sees boy, girl falls in love. Only we’re talking about two different boys. What follows, told from an effective mix of first-person interviews and archival photographs, is one of the most bizarre stories of two people finding each other that I have ever seen committed to film.
What really sets this film apart though is how frank and honest the participants are about their evolving states of mind. It’s an openness that one couldn’t achieve in a personal conversation, it would be too uncomfortable. This is documentary as therapy, with a sympathetic ear in the microphone of a camera incapable of judgement, and as voyeurism, not in the classical verité sense but rather a kind of emotional voyeurism. The result is an incredibly potent chronology of a love story that could only happen in America.
24. Microcosmos (1996)
Directed by Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou
Just sheer, joyful whimsy. Microcosmos is that rare cross-over documentary that seems accessible to literally everybody. It takes the set-piece from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and brings it into reality, using the shrink ray on the viewer vis-a-vis the camera to enter the world of their own back yard. One effect of the macro camera is to put the viewer on the same plane of being as insects, making it possible to relate to them. Another is illuminating the incredible variation in the world of insects as one watches with wonder all the individual segments of a caterpillar climbing a blade of grass or the ferocity with which two beetles battle. What makes it a great documentary, however, is how it asks the viewer to consider a world that they may largely think of as invisible, or even worse, homogenous. Nuridsany and Pérennou act as mediators for those who haven’t not only the means to tell their own stories, but the cognition to know they have stories to tell.
While We’re On The Subject: If this list included TV docs then Cosmos, the public television miniseries conceived by and starring Carl Sagan, would surely be somewhere near the top. It is a seemingly sweeping survey of modern science as well as an engrossing account of the evolution of scientific thought through the ages. Made over thirty years ago it’s shocking how relevant the series still is with regard to its concern with dispelling myths. Should be required viewing in schools across the country.
23. The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987)
Directed by Kazuo Hara
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On follows WWII veteran Kenzo Okuzaki as he visits and interviews numerous Japanese veterans in an effort to find the sickening truth behind the deaths of two soldiers with whom he was stationed. What makes Naked Army so watchable is Okuzaki’s total conviction in his quest and his confrontational approach towards fellow geriatrics, which makes Michael Moore‘s controversial encounter with Charlton Heston look like Jon Stewart interviewing Obama. What we are witness to is not the senile squabbling of old men but the voracious arguments of soldiers.
The film acts as a time machine, bringing Okuzaki and his unwitting foils back to a time most of them have either forgotten or choose not to remember, but Okuzaki is unrelenting in the task that is his charge. The film’s climax is almost as shocking as its revelations, but what takes The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On into genius territory is that it is essentially a documentary about the idea of the heroic documentary, with Okuzaki as the documentarian through whom is the only way to recover a truth lost to memory and forgetting. Fans of Joshua Oppenheimer‘s Look Of Silence, now playing, should definitely give this one a watch.
22. Street Fight (2005)
Directed by Marshall Curry
We hear all the time that politics is a dirty game, but rarely do we get to see the full extent of it through traditional media. The unprecedented access granted to filmmaker Marshall Curry during (now-senator) Cory Booker’s campaign for mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Going up against long-time incumbent Sharpe James, the upstart Booker is subjected not only to mudslinging about his racial bonifides and sexual orientation, but James uses his power as Mayor to direct civic servants, at the expense of the taxpayer, to remove Booker signs around town and disrupt his campaign in anyway available to them, including memorably breaking the filmmaker’s camera at a James rally.
Street Fight is bolstered by having Booker as its subject, as he offers the perfect golden boy counterpoint to James’ machine tactics; he lives in public housing along with his potential constituents, goes out and stumps in the worst neighborhoods, and is generally as friendly and likeable as a politician can be. The film was followed by a documentary mini-series Brick City, that continued to follow Booker as mayor where he would do things like initiate midnight basketball games in which he would participate to keep kids out of trouble at night. It will be interesting to revisit this film as Booker’s star continues to rise, to compare the seasoned politician with the idealistic candidate introduced to us in Street Fight.
21. Dear Zachary: A Letter to A Son About His Father (2008)
Directed by Kurt Kuenne
Devastating. Just total, utter devastation. Once, in college, I brought this movie, Dear Zachary, over to a house where four girl friends lived and by the time it was over all of them were in tears. The emotional charge is such that not even Kuenne, as the film’s narrator, can keep it together through the end. Dear Zachary, as its title implies, is an extremely personal film that traces the journey of affable Andrew Bagby and the circumstances which brought his best friend to make this film. Getting much more detailed than that would risk some spoilers, but suffice to say the Zachary is a fantastic example of the fluidity of documentary film in that the film we end up with is almost certainly not the film Kuenne intended to make.
20. Hearts and Minds (1974)
Directed by Peter Davis
Incredibly controversial upon its release, Hearts and Minds is the strongest anti-war film I have seen. In mixing frank interviews of some of Washington’s top brass (as well as some Vietnamese officials) with on-the-ground footage from Vietnam, the film expertly highlights the absurdity of the whole enterprise; it’s all well and good to offer up philosophical justifications, but they are made feeble and irrelevant when juxtaposed with the reality of the situation.
Though criticized for a perceived one-sidedness, Davis never editorializes, allowing the images or interviewees to speak for themselves and leaving it up to the viewer to make the connections. This is the film’s chief strength; that explicitly, no argument is being made, one could (though probably wouldn’t) say that Hearts and Minds is merely about the Vietnam war. But the result of the assembled footage under Davis‘ supervision is a masterful, and artful, statement against war as an institution.
19. Lake of Fire (2006)
Directed by Tony Kaye
There are many documentaries that get described as “that [subject of the film] doc” as in “you know Gasland, it’s that fracking doc.” Usually it’s doing the film a disservice, but in the case of Lake of Fire one could accurately describe the film as “that abortion doc” and it’d be ok only because of how all-encompassing it is. Kaye really makes an effort to talk to everyone with an opinion about abortion, from the doctors and patients to the clergymen and those who hold funerals for unborn lives on the national mall.
Yes, Lake of Fire is known for some graphic imagery, but those scenes are few and brief and really get lost amongst some of the films more substantive moments, such as interviews with Noam Chomsky and the eponymous “Roe” of Roe v. Wade, the latter of which may offer some surprises. There appears to be no bias at play in the film, it seeks only to give as full a picture of abortion as it can, not to lead the viewer in any particular direction about abortion but rather in an effort to embody the extreme ambiguity of the issue. But that is not to say this is a film without a point of view however, it is simply the point of view of a conflicted filmmaker, as Kaye’s comments illustrate: “If I had to tick a box I would say I was pro-choice. I would vote for a woman’s right to chose without hesitation, because without legal abortions poor women die” before saying that on an emotional level he is “completely opposed to abortion. I see it as murder – the taking of another’s life.”
18. Dark Days (2000)
Directed by Marc Singer
There is a certain romanticism to the American homeless experience: leaving one’s responsibilities and setting out on your own with all your belongings in a bundle on a stick, telling tales on a transnational freight train, and enjoying the companionship of the others in your box car, it’s always in the back of our minds as a possibility. Marc Singer‘s striking documentary Dark Days acknowledges that romanticism while also focusing squarely on the reality of this unenviable condition of squalor.
The film is set entirely in an abandoned New York subway, where a veritable mini-community has sprung up, shielded from the elements and judgments inherent on the surface. There is a genuine sense of community among most of the residents of the tunnel; friendships are formed and romances bloom, but the reality of the situation is always front and center. Anchored by a score from early-era DJ Shadow, Dark Days answers the question “how do they survive” with empathy, humor and sincerity.
17. Burma VJ (2008)
Directed by Anders Østergaard
Compiled from guerilla footage smuggled out of the country, Burma VJ captures an uprising in the age of ubiquitous video. Focusing on thousands of Buddhist monks’ grand protests of Burma’s (now Myanmar) oppressive government through the country’s streets, the film expertly demonstrates the power religion has to combat totalitarian regimes (and consequently why the church is so often either destroyed or absorbed by the rising powers).
With complete government control of the media, there could be no reliable coverage of the events at hand, as demonstrated by the official party line regarding prominent anti-government figure Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest for nearly two decades and whom is featured prominently in the film. Burma VJ has taken some hits regarding authenticity for its use of reenactments, but it is very clear which scenes are staged for context and which feature authentic civilian footage, and in no way affect the full emotional impact of this historically significant film.
16. Streetwise (1984)
Directed by Martin Bell
Another documentary about homelessness, Streetwise focuses on homeless youth in pre-grunge Seattle. The film follows a wide variety of kids of different ages and backgrounds, but finds in them all a yearning for belonging and acceptance, something they are only able to find in one another. One of the film’s subjects, 14-year old prostitute Tiny, steals the show as her unfortunate circumstances seem almost inevitable when we meet her mother and worry about how the blue print she’s laid down will serve her hard life living on the street.
What is most striking about the film’s subjects is their internal contradiction: they seem both to have skyrocketed to adulthood as a result of necessity, while also having their development arrested at the age which they set out on their own. In the end, this is a non-traditional take on the conventional coming of age story, seeking to answer the questions imperative to all adolescents: “What’s important to me? How do I get what I need? Who am I?” The answers to these questions and outcomes for the film’s various subjects range from the tragic to the hopeful, as the film discovers, as we all do, the life offers few easy answers.
15. Paris is Burning (1990)
Directed by Jennie Livingston
Paris is Burning is a vibrant film that has come to be a time capsule of both pre-Giuliani New York City and a time when LGBT Culture was still considered “underground”. In our current era of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “I Am Cait”, it’s easy to forget that just 25 years ago, the only place to see a “Ball” or transgender people was in Paris Is Burning. Similarly, the film was so controversial upon its release that it helped gut the US’s National Endowment for the Arts program, an act that leaves the state of state-sponsored art crippled to this day.
The film also gave the world the art of “vogueing”. Putting aside its landmark status and important historical context, Paris Is Burning is also a tour de force of captivating characters and enthralling rhythmic movement. The style of the Ball’s participants is high-fashion meets breakdancing meets fantasy role-play; it is so rich and unique that it’s no wonder Balls have grown to become the worldwide phenomenon that they are now. Paris is Burning should be required viewing by anyone interested in Foucauldian discourse and hegemonic structures, investigating the way that defiant, transgressive culture both cannibalizes and is cannibalized in turn. Or anyone who wants to watch a damn fine movie.
14. Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Directed by Andrew Jarecki
Capturing the Friedmans tells the story of the life of a New York family through interviews and home movies. Without giving too much away, it suffices to say there is more to the family than meets the eye as they are all swallowed up in a controversy involving the Patriarch and one of his sons. Originally intended to be a short piece on New York City birthday party clowns, the director (who continues his transgressive work with the recent, phenomenal The Jinx) noticed that there was a dark side to his subject that he felt needed exploring, and that intuition led to one of the most canonical docs of the new millenium. You will never think of the game “leap frog” the same way again.
13. Paradise Lost trilogy (1996, 2000, 2011)
Directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
There are many documentaries that tackle the flaws inherent in the U.S. Justice System, but Paradise Lost looms largest. Following the trial of three Arkansas teenagers charged with the brutal murders of three 10-year old boys, found mutilated in a ditch, Paradise Lost is a deep examination not only of a broken institution, but also of the psychology of loss and the power of othering. The only evidence that existed against these boys was their love for metal, their black attire and their status as outsiders. For this they paid a decade and a half of their freedom.
The series also features interviews with the parents of both the victims and the accused, revealing the double-tragedy of the situation. Some of the most striking scenes belong to Christopher Byers, step-father of one of the victims. His on-camera monologues smack of grief, vigilantism, Shakespeare and evangelism. Attitudes shift and change as the series progresses and the evidence for a colossal injustice at the state level becomes undeniable, while the amount of evidence against the boys (who came to be known as the “West Memphis 3”) remained level.
The three became a sort of cause celeb, and their story has spawned a fiction feature film and more documentaries, but Paradise Lost is the most effective, bewildering and meditative account of their terrible story. For those interested, I highly suggest reading Damien Echols’ “Life After Death”, as it adds a first person perspective to the familiar tale, creating a new level of appreciation for exactly what the three endured.
That’s all for now! The documentaries included on the list so far span a wide variety of topics, from war to love to insects – and there is more to come. The remaining 12 of the 25 greatest documentaries of all time are coming next month.
What is your favorite documentary, did it make this list? Are you hoping it will make the next?
Stay tuned!
(top image: Microcosmos (1996) – source: Miramax Films)
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