Putin’s Kiss

Documentarian Lise Birk Pedersen affords an informative and intriguing look into Russian society via the fresh face of Vladimir Putin’s propaganda youth brigade NASHI (“OURS”). Headstrong teen beauty Masha Drokova (born in 1989—the year of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall) made a national splash when she kissed Putin on the cheek during a photo-op at a televised rally. The stunt won her a fast-track position to spokesperson for NASHI, which had been created in 2005 by Vasily Yakemenko. Masha’s articulate speech and camera-ready charm make her an ideal candidate. The position garnered Masha her own apartment and a car—she even hosted her own television show. Egalitarian in her choice of colleagues Masha befriended a group of anti-Putin/anti-NASHI journalists—including Oleg Kashin whose brutal beating by three thugs near his apartment bookends the movie. A surveillance camera captured the attack.

“Putin’s Kiss” is a character study of an ambitious girl struggling to make a place for herself in a country where opportunities are few and far between. The film functions both as a thought-provoking character study and a window into uncomfortable similarities between Russia and America in the way media-propagated hate-speak functions.

Not Rated. 112 mins. (B+) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)

Undefeated

The underbelly of America’s racial and economic divide is eloquently explored as an inevitable symptom of our system in this unpretentious documentary about a generous Memphis high school football coach and the impoverished young men he attempts to elevate to a better life. Coach Bill Courtney is one of a kind. A successful white businessman with a picture-perfect family living in a mansion on the good side of town, Bill Courtney has a gift for coaching football.

He tells his players, "You think football builds character. It does not; football reveals character."

Coach Courtney knows how to motivate his Manassas-based team of African-American players whose at-risk environment threatens to drag all of them down in a vicious undertow. Famous for never having won a playoff game in the school’s 110-year history, Manassas High School is the last team anyone in a 150-mile radius expects to hear anything positive about. Nonetheless, six years of coaching the same group of boys has put Coach Courtney’s squad on the precipice of being able to break that losing streak if only they can focus on the fleeting opportunity before them. It’s tempting to wax poetic about the energetic 2009 season we witness the Manassas Tigers play through, but the meat of the story comes down to three players. Montrail “Money” Brown is an undersized offensive lineman with heart and serious goals for college. Chavis Daniels is an ex-con from a youth penitentiary whose skill on the football field is overshadowed by his uncontrollable temper. O.C. Brown is a gifted right tackle with the demeanor of a teddy bear and a remedial level of academic comprehension. How each young man matures under Bill Courtney’s judicious supervision is as inspirational as it is edifying. “Undefeated” is a brilliant documentary that every teacher in America should see.

Rated PG-13. 110 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

Splinters

 

Adam Pesce's absorbing cross-cultural documentary about a small indigenous community in the village of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea provides an intimate view into an island culture revolutionized by one thing, a surfboard. During the ‘80s, a visiting Australian pilot left behind the board he used to surf PNG’s perfect waves. In the years that followed local Vanimo boys fell in love with the sport. They made their own surfboards—called “splinters”—crafted from lightweight wood.

In time the young men procured surfboards from visiting surfers, and imitated moves they studied in surfing magazines. They started up a surf club that in turn triggered two rival clubs. For the first time in PNG’s history, Vanimo will play host to the inaugural Papua New Guinea National Surfing Titles where native surfers can compete against pros. The local winner is to be awarded the opportunity to train with surfing athletes in Australia.

The film gravitates around Angelus, the son of the first native to surf Vanimo’s waves. Angelus is a gregarious surfer in his late 20s. He is recognized as “the King” of the resident wave-riders. His moves on the waves are world-class. Angelus’s shy disciple Ezekiel also has what it takes to compete on a professional level if his dubious nightlife activities don’t consume him. Angelus too has personal issues that threaten to derail his chances to compete. He owes alimony to his ex-wife whose brother is the leader of a rival surf club. If arrested for non-payment Angelus will be sent to prison.

Such is the drama in a community where women are second-class citizens to husbands who can beat them after they “buy” them. Much to the dismay of the male surfers, siblings Lesley and Susan have broken with tradition to pursue surfing as a way of life. In this northern corner of Papua New Guinea surfing has created a crucible of ideological conflict, and an aspirational way out of the region’s old world trap.

Not Rated. 95 mins. (B+) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)

Crazy Horse

For better or worse, viewers of Frederick Wiseman's undisciplined documentary about the Parisian nude review venue the “Crazy Horse” will never have to visit the landmark club. By the end of the film’s 134 minutes the viewer has soaked up so many pert nipples and plump behinds that the entertainment factor of such exhibition is diminished beyond recognition. Perhaps the most surprising tidbit the film proffers is the dancers’ aversion to touching one another onstage because such interaction crosses an imaginary line into something “dirty.” Good to know.

If the documentary comes from any primary point of view, it’s that of Philippe Decoufle, the club’s director and choreographer assigned TO the task of creating a new batch of dance set pieces for the storied revue, which has been around since 1951. The film is made up primarily of performance and rehearsal footage of floorshow dances with names like “Baby Buns,” that are undeniably titillating. Footage of staff meetings reveals conflicts between Decoufle and the owners over the idea of shutting down the club temporarily to allow him to properly polish the complex dance sequences, which rely heavily on lighting and careful synchronization on the part of the limber dancers. Decoufle also goes head-to-head with the venue’s underappreciated costume designer.

At about the halfway mark the film becomes repetitive to a fault. Extended scenes of dances, wherein tricks of lighting and costume emphasize breasts and bottoms for their own sake become abstract reflections on femininity for the editorial power of body-part curation. “Crazy Horse” left me feeling ambivalent about the dancers, the club, and a form of entertainment that attempts to elevate the art of striptease to another level. There’s no question that there is a tremendous amount of artistic effort applied to the performances. But the much ballyhooed climax set piece, involving the dancers singing out of tune, drops the, um, bottom out of an already tenuous enterprise.

At about the halfway mark the film becomes repetitive to a fault. Extended scenes of dances, wherein tricks of lighting and costume emphasize breasts and bottoms for their own sake, become abstract reflections on femininity for the editorial power of body-part curation. “Crazy Horse” left me feeling ambivalent about the dancers, the club, and a form of entertainment that attempts to elevate the art of striptease to another level. There’s no question that there is a tremendous amount of artistic effort applied to the performances. But the much ballyhooed climax set piece, involving the dancers singing out of tune, drops the, UM, bottom out of an already tenuous enterprise.

Not Rated. 134 mins. (C) (Two Stars - out of five/no halves)

Khodorkovsky

The 2003 arrest and incarceration of Russian oligarch (read oil tycoon) Mikhail Khodorkovsky under orders from Vladimir Putin barely registered a blip in Western media. Documentarian Cyril Tuschi circumvents that editorial oversight to shed essential light on the events leading up to the indictment of Russia's wealthiest citizen on charges of stealing his own company's oil.

"Khodorkovsky" is an entertaining examination of Russian culture, society, and politics seen through the lens of an outrageous character assassination orchestrated by the Russian government. The film makes terrific use of sleek stylized animated sequences to flesh out Mikhail Khodorkovsky's fascinating story. We get a crash course in the intelligent and charming Khodorkovsky's rapid transition from serious chemistry student to visionary businessman. Khodorkovsky purchased the formerly state-owned Yukos oil franchise at a deep discount under Boris Yeltsin’s regime to reap enormous financial benefits from the deal.

Filmmaker Tuschi makes efficient use of archive materials and interviews with business associates, family members, and journalists to paint a damning depiction of political might run amok. Khodorkovsky's act of challenging Putin on public television regarding his cabinet's corruption brought down a political wrath from which Khodorkovsky could hardly escape. Khodorkovsky is revealed as a man who essentially fell on his own sword in order to bring his country’s sins to global attention. The irony is that Russia’s own citizens have bought into the state’s propaganda of disinformation that says Khodorkovsky stole from Russia. As the film shows, that shoe of theft is securely on the other foot.

Not Rated. 111 mins. (B) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)

Garbo: The Spy

After rattling around film festivals for a couple of years Edmon Roch's wildly entertaining documentary thriller is finally enjoying its overdue theatrical release. It's the kind of juicy documentary where the less you know about it going in, the more you'll enjoy it. So, if you have any inkling to see a super fun documentary about an ingenious World War II double-agent then stop reading this review now and get thee to the cinema. You will not be disappointed.

Otherwise, here we go. Juan Pujol Garcia is a rare person with so many layers of intellect that he fooled the Germans and the Brits into both hiring him to work as a counterspy for them. It's a good thing Garcia's actual loyalties came down on the side of the Allies. Born in Spain, Garcia spent several years of his youth hiding out during the Spanish Civil War evading Franco's version of fascism. By 1940 the Catalan native made his way to London and offered the MI5 his services in spite of the fact he could barely speak a word of English. Repeatedly rejected, Garcia took his game to the Nazis who hired him to spy for them believing he was working out of Lisbon, when in fact he never left London.

He finally secured a position with MI5 writing disinformation to feed to the Nazis. He was given the codename "Garbo" by the Brits, but went under the codename "Arabel" to the Germans. Garcia created an imaginary team of 27 secret agents with fully fleshed-out identities to support his daily transmissions to the Germans. His prose was so detailed and passionate there was never a doubt of the veracity of the information. When the Allies prepared the build-up toward D-Day, Garcia precisely manipulated a diversionary feint set the Pas de Calais region north of Normandy to distract German military attention away from the point of the actual invasion.

Novelist, historian, and Intelligence expert Nigel West supplies fascinating straight-to-camera details about his arduous efforts to discover Garcia's real identity and to track him down in person. Spanish spy Aline Griffith adds an aspect of glamour during her articulate interview sequences. Roch weaves in movie clips from films like “Mr Moto’s Last Warning,” "The Longest Day," and "Mata Hari" to contextualize the material with humor and cinematic style. Evocative music from Brian Eno and Sparklehorse adds an aural layer of intrigue to the rollicking filmic investigation. “Garbo: the Spy has a lilting tone of cat-and-mouse in its construction. You just might want to see it twice.

Not Rated. 86 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

Into the Abyss

Werner Herzog and Errol Morris have more than a few things in common. Back in the late '70s when Herzog made a bet with Morris that Morris wouldn't make his first documentary "Gates of Heaven"--about an animal cemetery--at the cost of eating his shoe, Herzog had already explored the genre in-depth as a filmmaker even if American audiences only knew of his narrative work with salty epic narratives such as “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” or “Fitzcarraldo.” Errol Morris went on to become one of the finest documentarians working in the genre. If Herzog's precision documentary work (see "Lessons of Darkness" or "Little Dieter Needs to Fly") hadn't convinced audiences the adventurous filmmaker was capable of more than directing the volatile Klaus Kinski, his 2005 doc "Grizzly Man" served as a big wake-up call.

With his trademark personality in full voice, the inimitable Herzog delves into a case of triple homicide in Conroe, Texas which put convicted murderer Michael Perry on death row and left his murderous accomplice Jason Burkett with a life sentence. Herzog is candid about his position. During his interview with Perry eight days before Perry's date with death, Herzog tells the boyish 28-year-old he doesn't have to "like" him, but that he respects the inmate’s right to life as a human being who should not be executed anymore than his victims were. No punches are pulled as Herzog uses archive video police footage of the crime scenes to establish events that took the lives of Sandra Stotler, her 16-year-old son Adam, and his 18-year-old friend Jeremy Richardson as the result of a car robbery. Herzog conducts frank interviews with family members of the victims that evince the devastating effect of the tragedy. The filmmaker's ability to pose sensitive yet direct questions works like a charm, especially considering that all were conducted as singular events on a first-meeting basis.

After stating his anti-capital-punishment stance early on, Herzog allows the complex story to be told by the people closest to it. There is nothing heavy-handed in his approach. You never even see Herzog onscreen. “Into the Abyss” is a sound piece of editorial journalism, the likes of which is all too rare in our new media age of exploitation reportage.

Not Rated. 106 mins. (A-) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)

Pina - NYFF 2011

Like his German compatriot Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders has a knack for the documentary form. Wenders's 1999 Buena Vista Social Club remains one of the best music documentaries ever made. Unlike Herzog however, Wenders may want to consider sticking exclusively to this type of storytelling in light of his recent failing efforts with narrative film. His last film "Palermo Shooting" (2008) is a film better left forgotten.

In discovering the human and artistic impact of his friend, the famed late choreographer Pina Bausch, Wenders takes a unique approach that involves set piece reenactments of Bausch dance routines performed by her fiercely devoted company of dancers, the Tanztheater Wuppertal. Bausch started the company in 1973. Wenders puts state-of-the-art 3D technology to ideal usage in capturing the dynamic vibrancy of transformative dance numbers that reveal the personalities of the individual dancers, as well as the bold vision of their artistic muse. Interspersed between the dances are brief direct-to-camera reminisces from individual dancers about Pina that tell the story of an artistic force of nature who lived and breathed nothing but dance.

Wenders had been in discussions with Bausch for many years about making such a film. Sadly, the visionary choreographer passed away in 2009 just as "Pina" was entering pre-production. Audiences will find much inspiration in the film's many passionate solo, pas de deux, and group dances performed in public spaces and in various theatrical settings. Natural elements such as dirt and water take on mystical qualities in dynamic dance performances that truly take your breath away. There are many aural, visual, and visceral surprises in this sublime film. If you aren’t a fan of dance, you will be after seeing Pina’s magnificent dances performed by dancers who worked with her for decades. "Pina" was one of the highlights of the 2011 New York Film Festival.

Not Rated. 106 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel - NYFF 2011

One of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema gets his due in this comprehensive love-letter documentary. "Corman's World" celebrates director Roger Corman's illustrious career from top to bottom and inside-out. The inspirations, ideologies, and methodologies of Corman’s "one-man-band" of independent filmmaking come through exhaustive clips from his more than 200 films and a plethora of interview segments. Aside from outspoken interview sequences with Corman himself, documentarian Alex Stapleton interviews everyone from the filmmaker's wife and business partner Julie Corman to Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, John Sayles, Peter Fonda, William Shatner, and Pam Grier. The effect is a raucous celebration of Roger Corman's polite demeanor, colorful films, and a stripped-down approach to movie-making that gave many directors and actors their start. "Monster From the Ocean Floor," "Apache Woman," The Little Shop of Horrors," "Bucket of Blood," "The Fast and the Furious," "Death Race 2000," "The Intruder," and his psychedelic exploration of LSD "The Trip" are just a handful of the films examined with more insight than seem possible for such a fast-paced documentary. It would be a daunting task for any filmmaker to attempt a documentary about such a prolific and influential figure as Corman yet Alex Stapleton lovingly manages to craft a 95 minute filmic encyclopedia that touches all the bases. "Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel" fills an essential chapter of cinematic history. It is destined to become an integral addition to the curriculum of more than a few college film courses.

Not Rated. 95 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

Since he was nine –years old Kevin Clash dreamed of one day working with “Sesame Street.” Documentarian Constance Marks tells Clash’s inspiring story, about how a young puppeteer from an impoverished family in Baltimore worked his way into the inner circle of Jim Henson’s elite company. Great archive footage of events like the 17-year-old Kevin Clash meeting Henson puppeteer Kermit Love for the first time gives the movie a nostalgic aspect. Key scenes from “Sesame Street” reveal the practical method to the puppeteer’s craft. As much a behind-the-scenes peek at Jim Henson’s creative process as a biopic about a kid with a vision, “Being Elmo” is about Clash’s supportive parents, who helped guide him in the direction he wanted to go. Naturally, it’s also about the slow road to developing the personality for the little red puppet known as Elmo. Whoopi Goldberg narrates this entertaining and moving documentary that features interviews with celebrities such as Frank Oz and Rosie O’Donnell.

Not Rated. 76  mins. (B+) (Four Stars - out of five/no halves)

The Whale

The story of a lonely baby orca lost in Canada's Nootka Sound becomes a complex allegory for human interaction with animals and nature in this touching documentary narrated by Ryan Reynolds. Executive-produced by Scarlett Johansson and Reynolds during their marriage, "The Whale" is a captivating video diary of a doomed sea mammal. Separated from its family pod in 2002, the attention-hungry orca that came to be named "Luna" (a.k.a. L98) adapts to human interaction as a substitute form of companionship.

Married retired journalists-turned-documentarians Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisholm become personally involved as activists for Luna while chronicling the whale’s odyssey. We witness the fascinating animal as it creates lasting bonds with fishermen, loggers, and tourists whom it seeks out for physical contact. You couldn't imagine a more affectionate wild animal. Much of the film’s charm comes from truly amazing footage of Luna singing and using her body to instigate petting rituals with humans who are understandably mesmerized by her unusual behavior. Questions about Luna's safety, and that of the people she does or might encounter, fuels a fierce political battle that reaches to the area’s local Native American tribe. The tribe views the animal as a reincarnation of its late chief.

It’s tempting to discount “The Whale” as a piece of activist filmmaking with a photogenic circus-animal as its star. However, the film raises important ecological questions in a context of compulsory importance. You can’t help being spellbound by an intelligent whale whose personality demands attention. If animals are as important as people—and many people strongly believe they are—then taking inventory of how we treat exceptional creatures such as Luna reflects a much wider regard for all life on the planet. Educational, entertaining, and discussion-provoking “The Whale” is a family-friendly documentary that grows on its audience very quickly.

Rated G. 85 mins. (B) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)

Limelight

Documentarian Billy Corbin ("Cocaine Cowboys") etches a red-hot path through the rise and fall career of iconic '80s and '90s nightclub impresario Peter Gatien. Famous for the eye-patch that covers his left eye--the lasting effect of a hockey accident he suffered as a boy growing up in Ontario--Gatien enjoyed enormous success running celebrated Manhattan clubs like the Tunnel, the Palladium, Club USA, and the Limelight. The widespread use of drugs such as Special K and Ecstasy by club patrons spelled disaster when the "King of New York Clubs" became a target for Mayor Giuliani. As a brief history of Manhattan's vibrant nightlife that has all but been snuffed out since Gatien's demise, "Limelight" is an essential account of an important chapter in the city's history. The filmmaker's use extensive interviews with city officials, club scene makers, and Gatien himself, tell an ugly story of political abuses that led to Peter Gatien being deported to Canada after surviving a pointless trial that all but bankrupted him. You can't relive the heady days and nights of Manhattan's club scene, but you can soak up some of the flavor. You'll also get a crash course in the city's muscle of political corruption that seems to increase with every passing year.

Not Rated. 92 mins. (B+) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)

The Weird World of Blowfly

As an x-rated rapping comedian, Rudy Ray Moore was more talented than Clarence Reid's filthy-rapping alter ego BlowFly.Still, it was Reid who did it first. Another difference lies in Reid's music industry credentials as an R&B songwriter in Miami's ‘60s and ‘70s soul and disco scene where he penned hits for the likes of Sam & Dave, Gwen McCrae, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

Sadly, Jonathan Furmanski's spotty documentary about Clarence Reid is too little too late. The film picks up with music journalist/drummer/band manager Tom Bowker backing BlowFly as part of a touring band for the 69-year-old black performer to perform songs like his groundbreaking party hit "Rap Dirty" (1965). A clip from BlowFly’s humorous classic "Girl Let Me Cum in Your Mouth” gives earnest cause for laughter. Because Reid idiotically sold the rights to his music in 2003--just before modern artists like Beyonce and Wu-Tang Clan began raking in dough sampling his songs--the filmmakers can't afford licensing costs to appropriately represent Clarence Reid's musical accomplishments. Sparse interview footage with Jello Biafra, Ice T, Chuck D, and Norwood Fisher doesn't go far enough toward contextualizing Reid's pop music influence beyond the fact that he was the "first rapper."

Too much of the movie focuses on preparation for live shows and less-than-impressive performances in dive bars and on stages in Germany where young fans treat BlowFly with brutal disdain. Reid’s voice is not what it once was. Viewers are led to question Tom Bowker’s rabid insistence on turning BlowFly into a money-making brand. There’s no doubt that Bowker respects Reid’s humor, but his efforts at managing him as a viable act comes across as perhaps a little too self-serving. Problematic too are Clarence’s racist ideas about his own people. There’s no getting around the fact that Reid is a self-hating misanthrope.

“The Weird World of BlowFly” is an incomplete introduction to an important underground black comedian and R&B musician who never got his due. Clarence Reid deserves a better documentary.

Not Rated. 99 mins. (C) (Two Stars - out of five/no halves)

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu

Filmmaker Andrei Ujica's editorial-free compilation of Romanian-produced official newsreel footage of Eastern Europe's notorious dictator isn't so much a documentary as it is three hours of raw propaganda. It’s a stretch to say that Ujica “wrote and directed” anything. All he did was edit. The archive footage was cut from over 1000 hours of self-loving propaganda Ceausescu commissioned from his staff. He loved playing to the camera. Nicolae Ceausescu was obsessed with creating and maintaining a cult of personality. The strategy worked for a very long time. Watching Ceausescu’s decades-long political career through the rose-colored glasses of carefully staged public appearances hardly sheds any light on the numerous atrocities he committed against the Romanian populace. Some of Ceausescu's detestable actions--such as bugging every citizen's telephone--have since been adopted by the U.S. Government. Ceausescu also outlawed abortion. However, you won't learn any such things about the dark side of Ceausescu's reign from this “autobiography.” As such, his eventual capture and execution arrives with no context to give the viewer a sense about why he and his wife met with such a violent end before a gleeful public. “The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu” functions only as a textbook example of historic propaganda. It might work in a classroom, but it doesn’t fly as theatrical entertainment.

Not Rated. 180 mins. (D) (One Star - out of five/no halves)

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

Positively mandatory viewing for anyone even mildly interested in American history, especially for those bemoaning the abysmal direction of the country under lame duck President Barack Obama, "The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975" is a crucible of leftist ideals candidly expressed by Black Power activists Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, Eldridge Cleaver, and others. Most interesting is the archival source material's origins, discovered in the basement of a Swedish television station and culled by a group of journalists trying to contextualize America’s oppressive climate of no-holds-barred racism that has since transmogrified into the mainstream (see, e.g., Tea Party). Documentarian Göran Olsson edits the material in chronological order, allowing surviving subjects such as Angela Davis to provide spoken editorial commentary without switching away from the 16 mm archival material. Olsson blends in B-roll footage indigenous to the period to provide a visual background for the insights and opinions of visionary intellectuals whose sharply defined political and social analysis of America pales next those of modern-day activists and pundits. This is one brave documentary that clearly has its head on straight. That its ideas are as relevant today as they were 45 years ago is more than a little depressing but, as the film points out, the struggle for equality and dignity in America is a lifetime battle.

Not Rated. 100 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

The Interrupters

Documentarian Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") spends a year in the mean streets of Chicago following a group of ex-convict activists--known as "Interrupters"--responsible for bringing peace to troubled neighborhoods that resemble war zones. The result is a sobering look at an endemic American disease of poverty that squeezes lower class minorities into abject depression and violence. As part of the publically funded CeaseFire program, Interrupter social workers such as Ameena Matthews (daughter to Chicago's notorious crime boss Jeff Fort) engage with troubled members of the African American community where shootings are a daily occurrence. The soft-spoken Cobe Williams is another such Interrupter who uses his sensitivity to the thought processes of ex-cons to befriend hot-tempered young men and prevent them from doing harm. Watching these passionate caregivers engage with troubled teens such as Caprysha, a victim of a drug-addicted mother, shows a generosity of humanity lacking from modern-day political discussions. "The Interrupters" serves as an essential reminder that violence is a symptom of social ills. It just might cause you to ask yourself what gives the US the right to impose its ideologies on other countries while it allows its own people to suffer as it does.

Not Rated. 125 mins. (A) (Five Stars - out of five/no halves)

El Bulli: Cooking in Progress

In case your culinary experiences have been limited by, say, the collapse of global capitalism, "El Bulli" is widely considered the most famous as well as the best restaurant in the world. It holds the Michelin Guide's highest rating of three stars. In recent years the avant garde eatery has only been open six months out of each year in order to allow its visionary Catalan chef Ferran Adrià time to confer with his team of molecular gastronomists and design the next season's menu. Ironically and perhaps intentionally, at the time of the film's release the restaurant will close for at least two years before Ferran Adrià opens it again—with a totally new menu.

Gereon Wetzel's documentary study of Adrià's studious process of creation is generally a fly-on-the-wall affair that may seem dry because it doesn't give into the television-styled editorial crutches you might expect. Here the subjects are observed rather than interviewed. Adrià's disciplined assistant chefs work with scalpels rather than knives as they discuss visual elements of dishes disguised to look like a completely different food. A trip to the local market may involve purchasing "five grapes." The clinical atmosphere in the lab is intense. No music plays in the background. Adrià's top chefs Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch periodically crack smiles but no one is telling any jokes. Watching Adrià's poker face as he tastes concoctions most people can only dream about is part of the fun. Under his serious exterior Adrià has a wild imagination and a sly sense of humor.

Half the film is spent in the food lab, and half on the setup and execution of the actual restaurant in the province of Girona, overlooking a picturesque seaside cove. Ingredients such as small chunks of ice are discussed while foods are freeze-dried, puréed, and vacuumized in an ongoing effort at deconstruction in order to make the diner "feel" as well as taste the food. The restaurant serves 35 courses to 55 diners each night over a period of four hours; "the more bewilderment the better." Water that tastes like a pine tree, rabbit brains, paper-thin tuna, and ravioli where the casing vanishes are dishes to be explored. "El Bulli: Cooking in Progress" is a fascinating cinematic window into an elite culinary world where anything is possible.

Unated. 108 mins. (B) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)

Crime After Crime

Any hopes that America's judicial system is improving are dashed in this gripping documentary about the horrible judicial treatment of Deborah Peagler. Documentarian Yoav Potash tells Ms. Peagler's story as a teenage African-American victim of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of her boyfriend Oliver Wilson, who also served as her ruthless pimp in the ghettos of Los Angeles. Wilson also molested the couple's daughter. That situation changed in 1982 when Deborah Peagler lured her "boyfriend" to a public park where two Crip members lay in wait to teach Oliver Wilson a lesson that ended in his death. The Los Angeles DA's office threatened Peagler with the death penalty--though no such action could have been enacted--in order to extract a guilty plea that sentenced Deborah Peagler to a 25-year-to-life sentence. It should have been a six-year-maximum sentence. 20-years later, enter attorneys Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran to take up Ms. Peagler's case pro bono. The eight years the deeply committed attorneys work on the case bring to light astonishing infractions committed by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office under the dirty fingers of people like L.A. prosecutor Lael Rubin. "Crime After Crime" reveals Deborah Peagler's resilient humanity that endured within the walls of Chowchilla's Central California Women's Facility. It also shows the endemic racism that runs through the Los Angeles judicial system. This is one very touching and informative documentary about a brave woman and the selfless attorneys who work tirelessly to free her.

Unrated. 93 mins. (B) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)