The Filmcake

April 19th – April 25th

Good Hair — Chris Rock’s documentary about the hair of African American women. Certainly more compelling than I had expected. I had no idea of the lengths some women go to in order to achieve a particular look with their hair. From relaxer to weaves, black women (and some men) undergo painful and costly treatments to get rid of the kink–to achieve good hair. The documentary only takes a precursory look at the cultural implications of the desire for straighter (“whiter” or “more natural”) hair. I would have liked Rock to delve a little deeper. Instead, we get a little of this and a little of that. Another story arc that doesn’t quite get fleshed out is the Hair Battle Royale performance competition at the Bronner Brothers Hair Show. We are introduced to the contestants who all seem like interesting characters. We see some pre-competition preparation leading up to the Battle Royale itself. It feels like the featured competitors and the competition itself would have made for an interesting documentary all by themselves instead of being clumsily inserted into this one. While it lacks a real focus, I would still certainly recommend this documentary.

Gleaners and I — This is one that I decided to revisit upon last year’s release and critical acclaim surrounding Beaches of Agnes (which I still haven’t seen). This is actually the first and only Agnes Varda film that I’ve seen. On the surface it is a documentary about gleaners (ostensibly those who gather leftover crops), but at its core it is visual poetry. It’s about eking out an existence, about a respect for the land, about coming to terms with aging, and about the importance of art. That a 72-year-old woman can take a DV camera and make something that resonates with such truth and beauty makes my universe so much brighter.

Tags: Gleaners and I, Good Hair

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Week in Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.