American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi
Director and writer Sebastian Doggart’s documentary on the evolution of the life and politics of polarizing political figure Condoleezza Rice is an interesting film mostly because one might think that we lack the distance from the subject matter to give Dr. Rice a fair and unbiased account. Doggart would prove those naysayers wrong however, as he crafts a documentary that forgoes, for the most part, the relative ease of political bias and backbiting and instead chooses to present the events of Condi’s life in an almost clinical and emotionless way.
Rather than re-hash the entirety of this documentary in an attempt to review it, I would rather make the point that regardless if you are a republican or a democrat (hell, Condi was both), you would do well to take a peek at this documentary as it gives some great insight into the political process from several points of view close to Condoleezza, and from moments that have been recorded throughout her career. This film illustrates that people are neither left wing nor right wing, and that some people just try to do what they feel is right for themselves in the moment, even if that action, or lack thereof is not necessarily what is right for the nation.
The first third or more of this film is about Condoleezza Rice’s childhood and academic career, as well as her early entry into politics. This part of the documentary is exactly how docs should be shot and would make veteran documentary directors like Albert Maysles proud. The rest of the film focuses much on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as touching briefly on the tragedy of hurricane Katrina. The director at this point seems to paint the picture of a colder, calculating, and almost evil Condoleezza Rice at this point using darker photography with long shadows either coming from the subject, or covering her. The music that is used during this part of the movie has hints of war drums, and a score that would feel more at home in a horror movie rather than a documentary. If this was a biopic that was more narrative driven, I could forgive that, but in this case, it seems that the director wants to directly influence and guide the audience on how to feel about this person rather than giving a straightforward portrayal.
It is certainly shot well; it keeps attention focused (which can sometimes be hard to do with a documentary) and makes you both sympathize with and hate the subject all within the span of an hour and a half.
More information on this movie at IndiesDirect!
