Review - Hell and Back Again

You know how I always qualify my own Best Foreign Film and Best Documentary nominees with that tepid “subject-to-change” line? This is why.

Less than four days after finally settling on my award winners, not only am I going to have to retroactively adjust my nominees (and winner) for Best Documentary, but several other categories as well. Hell and Back Again, which the Academy's documentary branch recently spurred me to investigate when they nominated it for Best Documentary, is straight up one of the best films of the year.

The subject is Sgt Nathan Harris, a gung-ho Marine whose leg was crippled by a bullet nearing the end of his deployment in a Taliban stronghold in the summer of '09. Now back on American soil and limping to readjust to civilian life, we see the exposed imbalance of a fragile mind who finds himself for the first time in a fragile body. Director Danfung Dennis employs a smart chronological structure that toggles back and forth between the “Hell” of Afghanistan and the “Back Again” of America, although by the end of the film it's suspected that home may have become Nathan's true hell.

One Category at a Time: Documentary

There's no doubt in my mind that this is the most impressive quintet of nominees the Academy has put together in any category this year.

The only one I have slight reservations about is Gasland, and that has more to do with the Josh Fox's form and structure. Conceptually it's a very compelling piece of investigative media, with some eye-opening and infuriating information to present.

Waste Land is my fourth favourite, for its rousing emotional foundation and loose unintrusive style. It's a testament to Lucy Walker's range as a documentarian and a filmmaker that this was released the same year as her Countdown to Zero, which is much different in structure and subject matter. The film is indeed an inspiration.

Creeping up my ladder of preference to #3 you'll find Restrepo, an extraordinary objective observer essay put on film. That Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger could even get this film made is incredible enough, let alone that it should succeed so thoroughly in frightening and exhilarating us, and putting us in the mindset of the soldier.

My second favourite is Charles Ferguson's slick and focused Inside Job, which carries out the daunting task of explaining the excruciating mechanics of 2008's economic crisis to the layman with ease and intelligence. One of the most interesting and riling movies of the year, it's societal pertinence and professionalism will likely earn it Oscar gold.

And finally, the best of the lot (and that's saying a lot!), Banksy's droll Exit Through the Gift Shop, perhaps one of the most unusual "documentaries" I've ever seen, but one of the most memorable. Banksy is constantly molding it like a lump of clay, always into something fascinating, but it never stays that shape for long. Finally, by the end, he's left us with something that transcends shape; an epiphany. I've never seen such a unique and hilarious study of art and celebrity.

Will win: Inside Job
Runner-up: Waste Land

Should win: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Should have been nominated: Catfish

My Award nominations: Documentary

Best Documentary:

Catfish (Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman):
It starts as a suspicious online relationship that turns into a thrilling investigation that ends up a settled contemplation about what our digital age society and the people in it are all about. Speculations that it may be a hoax are beside the point, because it tells its story and delivers its message so effectively and entertainingly.

Exit Through the Gift Shop (Banksy):
A brilliantly edited, mercurial meditation on the nature of art, culture, and creative expression vs creative fakery. We never know what the film is really about until the final frames, just like we never really know whether it's a "real" documentary or an elaborate ruse. Whatever the answer, it remains an ingenious and hilarious work of art.

Inside Job (Charles Ferguson):
This searing expose on how Wall Street greed and irresponsibility lead to the global economic crisis of 2008 succeeds both as an enlightening lesson in the follies of the structure of our financial system and the people governing it, as well as a witty and compelling piece of entertainment that'll leave you both bemused an enraged.

Restrepo (Tim Hetherington, Sebastian Junger):
It's a miracle that this riveting documentary should even exist. It's a testament to the dedication and courage of Hetherington and Junger, who spent a year in the most dangerous place on earth to conduct an objective study of men at war. No political position is taken. The only concern is to observe the harrowing life of the American soldier.

Waste Land (Lucy Walker):
A stirring and inspiring tale of art and social responsibility, it's not hard to see why Waste Land brings festival audiences to their feet. The only thing more extraordinary than Vik Muniz's garbage creations is how profoundly they affect the lives of the people who inspired him. director Lucy Walker wisely avoids an formalism in telling a story as emotional as this.

Just missed: Countdown to Zero, Waiting for Superman, Gasland

My Award nominations: Sound Mixing

Sound Mixing:

127 Hours (Douglas Cameron, Steven Laneri, Niv Adiri, Richard Pryke, Ian Tapp):
The mixers of Danny Boyle's unique experience aurally expand and compress the space via their fine integration of everything from the bombastic (ie: reverberating echoes) to the subtle (ie: insect footsteps).

Black Swan (Ken Ishii, Craig Henighan, Dominick Tavella):
Darren Aronofsky's psychological thriller owes much of its tension-building panache to the intense sonic environment. The music and the ambient sound effects dance together in perfect tandem as Nina's mind becomes a wash of maddening noises.

Restrepo (Coll Anderson):It may not be a hugely sophisticated or polished mix, but the gritty sound of this cinema verite documentary is a huge part of the intensity with which it glows. Untidy production audio is translated into a comprehensible but jarring soundscape.

The Social Network (Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Mark Weingarten):
The sophistication and nuance of this mix is a really tough one to notice in one viewing, but after you've seen it a few times and have accustomed yourself to the dialogue and the editing rhythms, it becomes more apparent how crucial the aural detail is to the experience.

TRON Legacy (Michael McGee, Christopher Boyes, Juan Peralta, Gary Rizzo):
Much of what envelopes us in the world of The Grid is the distinctive sound atmosphere spun by these expert mixers. The marriage of the sound effects and Daft Punk's techno score (which is like a sound effect itself) is a feast for the ears.

Just missed: How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, Shutter Island, The Town