alexvlarsen

This film is made with such emotional intelligence and cinematic sensibility, it deserves all the praise it can get. It's not often you find films by American directors that are this daring when it comes to trusting the audience to piece together what's going on in the minds and hearts of the characters. And also what's going on plot-wise. I love the way Colman's character surprises herself with her own actions. It's a thrill to watch her stumble her way through encounters with other people and it's heartbreaking to find out what she's actually grappling with, which we learn more about as the story moves along. There's so much going on in this little gem of a film. If you can't see that - it wasn't for you, anyway.

.. about propaganda? This film is more like a cautionary tale to everyone making documentaries. It is so overtold and at the same time has so much it wants to say that it crushes most of the points it's trying to make and almost everyone who participates in it. In 92 minutes this film manages to give bafflingly little insight into propaganda despite travelling all over the world and through the entire history of the human race. The film tries to talk about politics, society, art and the media, but it just doesn't have the brains to do it in a meaningful and coherent way. Only a few uninterrupted moments, like the one with the artist who made the iconic Che Guevara artwork, will keep you from losing your mind watching this strange attempt at documentary filmmaking.

This film has some very interesting people and stories in it... But it doesn't matter if you've got the best ingredients in the whole world if you are really s**t at cooking.