Berger-lovers, take note -- THE SEASONS IN QUINCY: Four Portraits of John Berger opens

TrustMovies' first experience with the noted polymath John Berger came back in 1976, with the release of a movie called Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000, for which Berger had written the screenplay, along with the film's Swiss director, Alain Tanner. I had never seen a movie like this one that tossed together a bunch of somewhat related characters (all friends, as I recall) and, as scene after scene played out, got us in the audience thinking about all kinds of important things: culture, politics, economics, love, parenting -- even as we were surprisingly entertained, amused, moved and made to connect things. I had never experience anything quite like this in a movie theater before. And, maybe, now that I think of it, since. (I am also made suddenly aware, if I did not consider this at the time I first saw the film, that my own daughter would herself turn 26 in the year 2000.)

After that experience, I kept a lookout for whatever else I might come across from Mr. Berger (shown above and below), and over the decades, I have enjoyed and learned from much of his work. Now, we have an unusual documentary opening this Wednesday at New York City's Film Forum -- THE SEASONS IN QUINCY: FOUR PORTRAITS OF JOHN BERGER -- that ought to be catnip for us Berger fans and might even appeal to folk who know little (or simply want to know more) about one of the most special jack-of-many-trades to grace western culture in this century and the one just past.

These four portraits (titled Ways of Listening, Spring, A Song for Politics and Harvest) last around 22 minutes each and are said to have been directed  by four filmmakers -- Colin MacCabe, Christopher Roth, Bartek Dziadosz and the actress and long-time friend of Berger, Tilda Swinton (above, right) -- though it seemed to me that perhaps all the directors had something to do with all the segments.

Certainly, scenes, people and ideas seem to bounce back and forth here -- which would be appropriate for Berger and his oeuvre, with the man himself -- gentle and quiet and alert -- holding it all together. In its own style, the movie manages to capture much of Berger's, too.

Ms Swinton herself appears in a couple of the portraits, the first and the last, as do, I am guessing, her children (or maybe younger siblings?). Berger's son, too, plays in a good part of the final segment, making this a kind of lovely tale of two families, set in scenery that will make you want to move to this French mountainside and its verdant valley forthwith.

Along the way we are made to think about everything from the lives of farm animals to where our world is going in terms of economic/political policy. Berger calls himself a storyteller, albeit one "who can identify stories good for the reader's health," while Swinton prefers the moniker "radical humanist." After viewing and listening to all that's here, you'll undoubtedly come up with your own word for the guy.

"Hope has nothing to do with optimism," "It's in hell, not heaven, where solidarity is important," and "History cannot have its tongue cut out," are just a few of the ideas we come up against here, and the images we see -- from peas in a pod, to chickens on the loose and the beauty of hogs, cows and the French countryside -- are simply a delight.

This is a uniquely personal little movie, and while a few of the filmic tricks, particularly those in A Song for Politics, may not add much to the mix -- more of that discussion shown in black-and-white by a most interesting quintet (above) would have been preferable by me -- what is here seems so redolent of Berger himself that we don't much mind.

By movie's end we've come to a new generation. Glancing, allusive, beautiful, oddly moving, the documentary often soars, while the finale even finds a perfect use for those raspberries we've seen earlier. And look! Berger and his son have set a place at the table for their late wife/mother.

From Icarus Films and running but 90 minutes, these documentary portraits opens this Wednesday, August 31 at Film Forum in New York City before hitting another ten venues where intellectual pursuits appear to be happening (and yes, folk: Los Angeles is again missing in action). You can take a look at all upcoming playdates, cities and theaters by clicking here and then scrolling down to the appropriate movie (they're in alphabetical order by title).

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"family" films, Bartek Dziadosz, Christopher Roth, Colin MacCabe, Economics, farm animals, intellectual pursuits, John Berger, politics, THE SEASONS IN QUINCY: FOUR PORTRAITS OF JOHN BERGER, Tilda Swinton,

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Father's Day doc: Emily Abt's DADDY DON'T GO explores four guys trying to be good dads

Being marketed as a Father's Day opportunity, the new documentary by Emily Abt (Toe to Toe) entitled DADDY DON'T GO can be recommended mostly if you are looking for something really depressing to view on this manufactured, would-be holiday to honor "dad." The film's subject is two-fold: missing dads and men in prison coupled to the story of four different fellows -- two black men, one hispanic and one white -- all of whom are having major trouble bringing up baby. With almost everything stacked against three out of four of these guys -- only the white one has something approaching a secure place to raise his son -- one can only wonder how and why these subjects were chosen. The choices here certainly make for compelling if frustrating viewing, but as we move along, we can't help but question an awful lot of choices these guys make, as well as some that the filmmaker herself has made.

If one wanted to quickly offer up major differences between how whites and minorities live, you'll certainly find them here. And in this respect, the movie seems truthful about America and the opportunities it presents to the majority of its minorities. But perhaps because Ms Abt (shown at right) wanted to appear non-judgmental (some critics have used this term to describe her doc), she questions nothing we see or hear -- which most thoughtful, discerning viewers will want to do over and over again as the movie unfurls. The most egregious case of this is found when we discover almost halfway along that one of the guys appears to be a criminal who is facing prison for his role in a past mugging. Did Abt not know this? In any case, our suddenly learning this cannot help but change the way we view one of these dads.

As we're told at the film's beginning, Daddy Don't Go was filmed over two years and is the story of four disadvantaged men in New York City trying to be decent fathers against all odds. Then we meet Nelson (above), 26, from the South Bronx, a single dad whose wife was a cocaine addict with no flair for mothering (all our dads seems to have chosen really bad wives or girlfriends), and whose major problem seems to be unemployment. Omar (below), a 34-year-old black man from the North Bronx, has been disabled since childhood (there is no real diagnosis given us here, but since some of his children seem to suffer from this, as well, I am guessing it may be hereditary.) His women -- one abusive, the other incarcerated -- are no help, and so Omar is on disability for himself and his children.

Roy, 28 and shown below, is a white man from Long Island who is clearly from a middle class family. Trouble is, he has been in prison and is finding it difficult to land any kind of job. He is concurrently going for counseling at the Forestdale Fathering Institute, and has, as we will learn, some major issues with his own father (he's living for economic reasons with his son at the home of his parents).

Finally we have Alex, shown below, a 26-year-old black man from Harlem who has recently gained custody of a son whose mother has been deemed an unfit parent. We end up spending perhaps the most time of any with this young man and also perhaps feel the most jerked around by his increasingly what's-next-and-can-we-believe-any-of-this attitude. Ms Abt combines interviews and fly-on-the-wall camerawork with occasional statistics that provide some background but little that I, at least, didn't already know. But can we trust what we see and hear?

In the course of the film Nelson moves to Florida for employment. And then promptly loses it. But did he really lose the job down there simply because he had long hair? And why does a hugely problemed man like Omar keep having kids? Alex is clearly not the man we were initially led to believe (in one scene he is suddenly behind the wheel of a car. Where did this come from?), and only Roy seems to have leveled with us in any way completely. Three of these four talk a good game about fatherhood, yet they don't seem able to play it. But here we get into problems of race and class and history and economics and prejudice and all the rest that Ms Abt refuses to address or perhaps feels it is best to ignore. Being non-judgmental is one thing, but this documentary strikes me as more like sloppy. (Out of all the people on view, your heart will go out most strongly, I suspect, to Omar's daughter Milagros.)

From Pureland Pictures, Daddy Don't Go premieres on Vimeo-on-Demand this coming Sunday, Father's Day, June 19th. You can find it by clicking on this link. 

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American documentaries, Class, DADDY DON'T GO, Economics, Emily Abt, fatherhood, history, parenting, prejudice, Race,

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