Entry 43

The folowing is a review I did on two different documentaries on Native Americans. I compare and contrast their techniques, offering how one documentary did a much better job than the other. It is very difficult to make a successful documentary and I was very impressed with the better one.

The past couple documentaries we watched, one being more affective than the other, used specific strategies to get across their information.
The last film, “Kanehsatake,” was a very effective documentary as Obomsawin covers the death of a police office by the Mohawks. She portrays how the Mohawks often struggle with balancing their own self-respect and surviving. She is able to do this effectively through her extensive firsthand footage of the incident. Also, Obomsawin rarely appears on camera and is a strong interviewer, encouraging people to open up and express their innermost secrets or problems. Also, she is very ironic and humorous at points, helping to point out the inconsistencies of the Canadian government’s reaction to the killing. Overall, “Kanehsatake” includes all affective aspects of a documentary, as it is informative, sincere and refreshing.
“Trudell,” on the other hand, is not as effective as it is long and boring at parts. Rae’s strategies include incorporate endless amounts of interviews, powerful images and video footage. He focuses on honesty and music, two factors that secured his legacy as a Native American icon. Trudell’s eventful life could have made for an interesting watch from his experience at Alcatraz to the tragic deaths of family members. His grief is powerful, yet the documentary seems to lose focus and intimacy, as scenes tend to become redundant and lengthy. Also, the quality of the film is subpar at parts, as it seems they did not budget the documentary properly and spent too much on some scenes, leaving none for the others. Overall, “Trudell” had the potential of being a very inspirational documentary, yet the 80-minute documentary seemed much longer and many superfluous scenes severely damaged the overall effect of the film.