02 August 2008

LMU Homework - Harlan County USA & Thin Blue Line - 8 and 9 of 15

DOCUMENTARY FILMS!
Oh how I adore your justice seeking ways!

Thin Blue Line by Errol Morris opens with a shot of Reunion tower in DALLAS!
That made me smile, but the rest of the film made me shake my head in disgust...
Dallas (the city itself) is one of the worst in the country for crime. We have the 6th largest prison in the US, and our criminal justice system is notorious for being pathetic and brutal and this film really highlighted that. Then again it certianly isn't uncommon in most the rest of the USA... Jurys putting away OBVIOUSLY innocent people.

The best thing that came from this film was that soon after its release the innocent man was finally released after 13 years in jail. I don't know whether to be happy this film made it possible for his release or if I should be upset to see another man's life ruined by the justice system. I'm pretty sure I would never want a jury trial... my fellow man is rather incompetent.

One other interesting thing was that in the bonus section of the DVD there was an episode of Morris' tv series... it looked into the range of human evilness, if there is a rating system at all and the extent of the horrendous things people do to one another. It was interesting despite its morbidity.


Harlan County, USA... Again a great documentary that lets you really get to know real people and their struggles. It focused on the coal miners strikes during the late 60s into the early 70s. It showed the point of view of why people wanted unions, these very poor people trying anyway to get what they needed to atleast live semi comfortably instead of straining in pathetic housing with no plumbing and no means to climb out of their situation. A undereducated, resilient group, coal mining is all they knew or had but they fought for better conditions and pay that they truly deserved...
Won the Academy Award in 1976.

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home