A good story well-told: three documentaries I’ve enjoyed this week
If you love a good story well told, you’ll enjoy these three documentaries. I’ve watched them all within the last week and each is remarkable. Here’s why:
The New Yorker at 100 (Netflix). Watching this documentary, I couldn’t agree more with David Remnick - this magazine is a miracle! How it’s survived 100 years and is still going strong is extraordinary. The documentary provides a fantastic insight into journalism in the age of AI and the value of human long-form, creative writing and journalism. One of my favourite parts was seeing how they filter down thousands of cartoon submissions into ‘yes, no and maybe’ piles. We get a look too into all the resources that go into producing the magazine, even to the office manager who took it on himself to save lots of memorabilia that was destined for the skip. I particularly liked hearing about the team of fact checkers - ‘thorough’ doesn’t do it justice - and the tiny mistakes that didn’t get noticed. What a wonderful magazine it is - the documentary was so good I’ll have to watch it again. And I’m off to renew my subscription to the mag!
The Making of Jay Kelly (Netflix). I think this documentary about the making of the film Jay Kelly (starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler) is actually better than the film itself. It speaks to my curiosity about looking for the story behind the story. I've worked in film and TV myself but I'm still very geeky when it comes to seeing footage of ambitious sound stages. So much effort, time and creativity went into scenes that would be glimpsed for a few minutes: from laying the scaffold foundations to building an LA apartment. Even the books on the shelves that no one will spot. Seeing how they did the scenes on the moving train was fascinating. Director Noah Baumbach doesn’t like to use visual effects, so everything needs to be created on set or on location. So when you have a scene where Jay walks from a private jet in the present day into a theatre rehearsal in the past, they’ve actually built a theatre set off the back of a plane. Incredible!
26.2 to Life (BBC Storyville on BBC iPlayer in the UK). This is a brilliant documentary about a marathon that takes place inside (yes, inside) San Quentin prison in California. And that’s all you need to know to surely pique your interest. But in addition to the subject matter, the storytelling is first-class. It has the hallmarks of a great tale by zooming in tight on just a small number of characters. And of course, it’s not really a story about running. It's about the brutal penal system in the US that incarcerates so many men, especially men of colour. And it’s about endurance and it's about the human spirit and I was incredibly touched by it.
So when you’ve binged on Christmas films over the holiday season, and you’d like a palate cleanser, pick one of these!