Welcome to the fifth instalment of The Watchers' Feelgood Films, where the three of us discuss films that might help cheer you in these trying times.
As you all know, cinema is a broad church that encompasses all forms of storytelling, all genres and forms. Documentary film-making is a vital and sometimes overlooked genre which helps us see into lives very different to our own and experiences we would never otherwise experience.
So here are three documentaries which The Watchers recommend.
Matt recommends...
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
Starring: Fred Rogers, Joanne Rogers, François Clemmons
Fred Rogers is a father figure to millions of Americans. His children’s show, Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood first aired back in 1968 and broadcast its last episode in 2001.
Rogers was a minister who studied child psychology, once describing science as “the greatest gift we have”. Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood was never about selling toys, or forcing adult expectations down its young audience’s throats, instead it discussed big, weighty subjects in a way that empathised with children, spoke to them in ways that they could understand.
Morgan Neville’s documentary doesn’t reveal a man with sordid secrets like many British TV presenters. The revelation with Won't You Be My Neighbor? is that Rogers really was that gentle, caring man who spoke to America’s children through their televisions.
Through interviews with Rogers’ family and colleagues, Neville shows us how ahead of the times Fred Rogers was. Upset by news footage of black people being segregated in public swimming pools, he responded by having Officer Clemmons – black actor François Clemmons – share a paddling pool with him. Rogers also discussed Kennedy’s assassination, wrote an episode on divorce, and focused an entire week’s programmes on death. To the adults, Rogers seemed like a kindly do-gooder who would make Ned Flanders blush, but his mission was always to teach children about tolerance, accepting others and, most importantly, yourself.
Neville’s film is a wonderful ninety-odd minutes, but it will likely bring a tear to your eye. During animated cutaways, we are shown how the meek and mild glove puppet Daniel was Rogers’s anxieties that he could never quite express outside the studio. A clip from Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood has an actress singing to Daniel; she loves him exactly the way he is. Most children’s programmes would take the easy option and have Daniel agree with her, instead Daniel continues singing about his self-doubt. It is a beautiful song that simply and brilliantly explains mental health.
With British television it feels that no children’s programme is safe from having its creators outed for being charlatans, nothing like who they are on screen. Won't You Be My Neighbor? is extraordinary because Fred Rogers absolutely deserves the praise and hero worship from the Americans who grew up with him. Neville reaffirms Rogers’ lifelong message that each and every one of us is special, capable of kindness, and doing incredible things.
* * *
Rhys recommends...
Becoming (2020)
Dir: Nadia Hallgren
Starring: Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Phoebe Robinson
Well, I didn’t think I would be writing this! If you want a real life, inspiring, feel good documentary, this film will do all the above.
Becoming is a inside look at the life of former First Lady Michelle Obama in an intimate documentary looking at her life, hopes and connection with others during her 2019 book tour for ‘Becoming.'
Yes, not the typical film I would normally go for- but it was on Netflix and I am in lock-down and so I pressed play. It is a fantastically made documentary, very insightful and full of hope. An amazing woman. Watch it!
* * *
Tez recommends...
Nothing Like A Dame (2018)
Dir: Roger Michell
Starring: Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith
Have you ever seen a group of good friends having a right old catch-up, gossiping, and putting the world to rights, and thought "I'd love to listen in"? Well, that's exactly what Nothing Like A Dame does.
The four titular dames- Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith- have been friends for decades. At a combined age of 342 years old (at the time of filming), they've had careers most actors could only dream of and have trod the boards throughout the UK and around the world.
In this wonderfully intimate portrait, these four amazing women discuss (amongst other things) working with one's spouse- Plowright was married to Laurence Olivier, whilst Atkins had been married to Julian Glover, Dench to Michael Williams, and Smith to Robert Stephens-, playing Shakespeare, taking part in major movie franchises, how to deal with critics, and growing older (gracefully or otherwise). Judi Dench, in particular, has a wonderful reaction to director Roger Michell's question about ageing.
It's hard to pick any one feelgood moment that stands out in a film full of them, but a moment towards the end sums it up perfectly. Ruminating on chances missed or passed over, Maggie Smith rather gloomily says that "it's too late". Joan Plowright- at the age of nearly 90 and suffering from degenerating eyesight which impairs her ability to work- responds with "oh, it's never too late".
What a fantastic philosophy. It's never too late to do that which you've always wanted to. Seize the opportunity.
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