We have at sometime all heard about a Muslim taking their sacred journey to Mecca, but how many people would actually understand what it means. Many would be happy to simply write off the IMAX docco Journey To Mecca: In The Footsteps of Ibn Battuta and scoff at it, but to those with an open mind this is an interesting film that holds your attention throughout.

The docco shows that the journey to Mecca isn’t, for some, as simple as just jumping onto a plane or a boat. In 1325 a man named Ibn Battuta (Chems-Eddine Zinoune – Arn: The Kingdom at Road’s End, The Objective) set out on a mammoth journey to reach Mecca. He set off from his home in Morocco and travelled the 3,000 miles to Mecca. Along the way he overcomes sickness, war, highwaymen and near starvation. The film also takes a look at modern day Mecca and shows the outside world what happens there.

Director, Bruce Neibar (Beyond The Horizon, India: Kingdom Of The Tiger) does a marvelous job putting together this film. Firstly, the narravtive part of the docco works sensationally well. Normally, in a docco the re-creations are poorly acted and directed, but here the opposite happens. In fact it is so well done that you actually care what happens to Ibn Battuta, and at times it does actually feel like you are watching a modern feature film.

Likewise, the visuals in this film are brilliant. The shots of the desert are brought to life with some amazing cinematography while Neibar’s creative style allows Mecca to be seen on the big screen in some interesting and stunningly brilliant ways.

Everyone stands to learn a little from Journey To Mecca: In The Footsteps of Ibn Battuta and if you truly want to understand what a Muslim’s journey to Mecca means than this is a docco that you must see. Educational and entertaining this is a docco that deserves to be a surprise hit.

Year: 2011

Director: Bruce Neibar

Stars: Chems-Eddine Zinoune

Classification: PG

Runtime: 45 mins

Rating:

 

Reviewer: Dave Griffiths

Dave Griffiths

---

Sometimes doccos on musos can sink in that boring ether that means even the most hardened fans of the muso want to turn the thing off or even walk out of the cinema. That isn’t the case with God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, a docco that captures a hell of a lot of Ozzy’s forty years in the industry.

This really is a no-holds barred docco as Osbourne and his family (including his first wife, Thelma, their children Elliott, Jessica and Louis, his second wife, Sharon and their children, Aimee, Jack and Kelly) tell all. The fact that his family are willing to say things such as ‘he was never really there for us’ shows just how honest everybody was prepared to be, most likely because Jack decided to take on the role of producer – it really is much easier to be honest when it is being kept in the family.

Some of the rare archival footage of Ozzy’s early days are a must for fans of Black Sabbath while the general feel of the whole docco is that no matter how low someone’s life gets there is always a way out of it. The scenes with Ozzy and Jack talking about how they got sober together are really touching and it’s impossible as an audience member to not find yourself getting a little emotional.

Directors, Mike Fleiss (The Quest) and Mike Piscitelli (newcomer) don’t ever allow the docco to bog down, not even when they are showing talking-head interviewers with people such as Henry Rollins and Tommy Lee, this is largely due to the fact that the stories of the interviewees are interesting and relevant. Fleiss and Piscitelli should also be congratulated for the fact that they don’t take the docco down the MTV style of filmmaking. They make it educational and entertaining without bringing in any bad habits or styles. The mix of interviews, archival footage and live performances is spot on.

God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is a sensational docco that truly captures the life of somebody that must be recognized as one of the most interesting people of our generation. A must for all Ozzy fans… don’t miss it.

Year: 2010

Director: Mike Fleiss, Mike Piscitelli

Stars: Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Jack Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Tommy Lee, Paul McCartney, Henry Rollins

Classification: MA

Runtime: 103 mins

Rating:

Available on DVD from 18th November, 2011

Dave Griffiths

---

Justin Bieber! That name will cause people to scream for two different reasons. A teeny-bopper will scream with ecstasy and a serious music fan will scream in fear. Many will view Justin Bieber: Never Say Never as a docco that sounds so bad the United Nations should be outlawing it for its potential to be used a torture device. Yet the strange thing is that inside Justin Beiber: Never Say Never is a good docco screaming to be set free.

Justin Beiber: Never Say Never follows the energetic Beiber for ten days in the lead-up to his biggest concert to date at a sold out Madison Square Gardens… the pinnacle for musicians worldwide. It charts his early life, born to a teenage Mum in Canada, being a talented muso as a child, finding global success on YouTube, finally landing a manager and even meeting and impressing worldwide superstar, Usher (Killers, In The Mix). Oh yes and there is tons of footage of him performing with the likes of Bys II Men, Miley Cyrus (The Last Song, TV’S Hanna Montana), Jaden Smith (The Karate Kid, The Day The Earth Stood Still)… and of course Usher.

Yet it is what is missing from this docco that drags it down from being good to just okay. Things that would be interesting to the audience, like how bad was it for his teenage Mum bringing him up and what is his relationship with his father like, is skirted over to make way for the MTV publicity machine to chick in more on-stage footage of Bieber trying to get romantic with a disinterested Miley Cyrus. The ultimate slap-in-the-face for the audience comes when his manager, Scooter Braun, recalls a story of Madonna talking about Michael Jackson’s life being ruined because he lost his childhood and Bieber turning to him and saying ‘Please don’t let that happen to me”, and then there is no follow-up to the statement. The most poignant line of the film and it’s treated as an uninteresting throwaway line.

Having said that though this docco may change some people’s thoughts on Bieber. It is obvious from some of the footage shown that he has talent as a musician… he just needs somebody to write him some decent songs. The film also shows his strong Christian background, his hard-working ethic and the fact he hates to disappoint his fans… brilliantly illustrated by the fact he is physically upset when he has to cancel events because of a bad throat.

While this film may change some people’s opinion of Bieber, at the end of the day it is just an okay docco that could have been much better. Young musos will see how hard the popstar lifestyle can be, but other important topics are simply just glanced over, while the whole film is held together by some unremarkable concert footage. Director, Jon Chu (Step Up 3D, Step Up 2: The Streets) really needs to go back to film school and learn what elements make a docco truly great.

Year: 2011

Director: John Schultz

Stars: Jordana Beatty, Heather Graham, Parris Mosteller, Preston Bailey, Garrett Ryan, Taylar Hender

Classification: G

Runtime: 105 mins

Rating:

Dave Griffiths

---

Catfish is an awkward documentary to review, simply because of the fact that this is one film that you need to see without knowing too much about what is going to happen. Having said that, this is one of the better modern documentaries I have seen, despite the fact that at times I was wondering whether or not the camera work was going to make me sea-sick.

Made by New York filmmakers Henry Joost (NY Export: Opus Jazz) and Ariel Schulman (Jerry Ruis, Shall We Do This?) the docco’s origins began when Joost and Schulman decided to follow the emotional journey that Ariel’s brother, Nev (Una & Jacques), embarked on after one of his photos was published in a newspaper. Not long after it was published, an eight-year-old girl, named Abby, contacted him and asked permission to paint it. After she sends him the amazing painting he begins an online friendship with her and her family, and ends up falling in love with older sister, Megan.

The trailer for Catfish makes you believe that the docco is set to become a horror-mockumentary in the vein of The Blair Witch Project or The Last Exorcism, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is a heartfelt journey that follows the emotions of a man as he takes some huge steps in his life… in fact it’s rare to see a man fall naturally in love on the screen, but that’s certainly what you see here. While some criticize the reason that this docco was made, you certainly can’t say it wasn’t made with heart, even the relationship between the two brothers (Ariel and Nev) is right there for all to see. With all this emotion so openly on the line, it is little wonder that you find yourself genuinely affected by the ending.

The biggest fault you will find with Catfish is the way it is filmed. The use of computer-like graphics at times (imitating Facebook and Google Maps) works well (and fits in with the whole ‘online romance’ section really well), but some of the jerky camera movements do make you feel a little sea-sick. The annoying part about this is that for most of the film they could have used a tripod an easily eradicated this.

Catfish may not be everybody’s cup-of-tea but it is a documentary with heart, and one that certainly gets a very important social message across to its audience without boring them into a coma. At times the filming style can be annoying, but it is worth enduring to see a docco that you can’t help be emotionally affected by. If you have a Facebook account then you really do need to see this film.

 

Year: 2010

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Stars: N/A

Classification: PG

Runtime: 87 mins

Rating:

Dave Griffiths

---

It seems that documentaries just seem to get better and better as time goes by. The old ‘classroom doccos’ we saw when we were at school just doesn’t cut it anymore, and instead we get doccos with spectacular footage like we find here in Oceans.

Directors, Jacques Perrin (L’empire du milieu du sud, Winged Migration) and Jacques Cluzaud (Les ailes de la nature, Winged Migration) set the world alight with Travelling Birds and now they have even managed to out-do that with the spectacular Oceans.

Oceans doesn’t just tell you about the many wonderful creatures that call our oceans home, it takes you right there amongst them with footage that simply has to be seen to be believed. The footage of seeing birds dive on fish is spectacular while the shots of killer whales killing seals may be graphic but is also a once in a lifetime thing for the public to see. And to their credit the directors don’t just focus on one area of the ocean, they go of the tropics of South America, to Australia and even to the Arctic, and it’s not all about fish, you truly get to see a wide variety of animals.

Oceans is ten times better than the woeful Whales & Dolphins: Tribes Of The Oceans 3D. This is a stunning docco that takes the viewer right down into the ocean so you can see things you have never seen before. This is one docco you shouldn’t miss.

Year: 2009

Director: Jacques Perrinm Jacques Cluzaud

Stars: N/A

Classification: G

Runtime: 104 mins

Rating:

Dave Griffiths

---

To look at the synopsis of Babies on paper and you could be excused for thinking – snooze-fest… but this is actually one brilliant documentary that will stick with you a long time after the closing credits end.

Babies sets out to follow four babies Ponijao (from Opuwo, Namibia), Mari (Tokyo, Japan), Bayar (Bayanchandmani, Mongolia) and Hattie (San Francisco, United States) from first breath to first steps, and boy is this a task that director, Thomas Balmes (How Much Is Your Life Worth, Nokia: A Decent Factory) takes to heart… and the result is a brilliantly stunning docco.

This is not just one of those doccos with interviews with excited parents just tacked together. No there are no interviews in sight, nor are there any narrations. Early on you feel that by not having a narration you could get lost but because of Balmes story-telling eye this is never a problem. Even better is the fact that Balmes has the skill to make this docco truly beautiful. He captures some wonderful shots and for some reason the babies seem to forget that the camera is there and he certainly does seem to capture the babies in their natural environment.

Babies is also a true celebration of motherhood. While some will find the birthing scenes hard to watch they certainly can’t help but agree that seeing the way a baby bonds with its mother on camera is an once in a lifetime experience.

Babies really is a cinematic masterpiece brought to life by one very skillful director indeed. This is one of the most beautiful doccos that you are ever likely to see.

Year: 2010

Director: Thomas Balmes

Stars: N/A

Classification: PG

Runtime: 79 mins

Rating: 

Dave Griffiths

---

Most docu-dramas don’t work because the acting dangerously lets down the rest of the film but that isn’t the case with ‘Blind Loves’… despite the fact that the cast aren’t recognized actors but real people with disabilities the acting is top notch and the film is genuinely interesting.

‘Blind Loves’ consists stories of four people’s lives – four people who are all blind. There is Peter a talented piano teacher whose vivid imagination gets him through each day. There is Miro who is in love with the sight-impaired Monika but their relationship hits a rocky patch because her parents disapprove of him. Elena is a young blind girl who is expecting a baby while Zuzka is discovering love on the Internet but her romantic interest has no idea that she is blind.

This film flows really well and while the stories of Elena and Zuzka are nowhere near as theatrical as the other stories there are no flat spots in the film. The highlight of the film however is the story of Miro and Monika… realistically this is a story that deserves a film of its own and it is so personal that you can’t help but find yourself ‘barracking’ for Miro. The filmmakers also need to be congratulated for the beautiful scene where we go into one of Peter’s daydreams.

One of the better docu-dramas floating around, ‘Blind Loves’opens up your eyes to the world and issues blind people face everyday in a way that few films have been able to do in the past.

Year: 2008

Director: Juraj Lehotsky

Stars:

Classification: CTC

Runtime: 77 mins

Rating:

Dave Griffiths

---