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Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#411

Post by pkrotich »

ethbr0 wrote: post #381
pkrotich wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often use past tense because in my tribe (Kalenjin for those interested)- when you do historical commentary you don't interject with your current feelings. You say what you felt then (e.g while watching the documentary) unless you talking about how you feel now vs then. It's very contexual. Rules in English can be confusing [1] ;) [1] - https://youtu.be/kXH3HDE9Czo

I gather most people from eastern or central Africa are polyglot and much better at switching languages than I am. On behalf of English, I apologize for its irregularity. ;) So in your first language, how would you express the idea of "I saw a documentary in the past, felt some way at the time, and now feel a different way?" To the extent translation is possible. Languages fascinate me. Especially in terms of the con…

If you use present tense then it’s how you feel now with no reference when you started feeling so. Past tense implies you felt so then and you still feel so now (linear feeling is assumed). If your feelings have changed then you say how you felt originally and qualify it for the present (now I feel).

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#412

Post by balr0g »

joshuaheard wrote: post #232

"ILM - Industrial Light & Magic: Creating The Impossible". A documentary about how the special effects team behind Star Wars and other science fiction movies was created. It's basically the story of a start-up, a start-up that could be any Silicon Valley start-up, but because they were in the movie business, they filmed everything. This makes for a great documentary. It's actually a series. It's in the Star Wars sect…

Worth mentioning that employees of ILM and the vfx industry in general view that film as propaganda to distract from the past decade of labor abuses they endured.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#413

Post by asdfqwertzxcv »

PsylentKnight wrote: post #354

The Up Series[0]. It's a series that follows a group from children from age 7 through old age, and it's still going (in theory - the creator died last year). Seeing entire lives compressed into a few hours was very impactful to me. [0]: https://www.amazon.com/The-Up-Series/dp/B074MGWDPF

Can’t upvote this enough. It’s fascinating what happens to each of the kids as some of them drop out of the series and then come back later. I hope it lives on past Michael Apted’s death in 2021.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#414

Post by alcover »

orasis wrote: post #63

“The Century of the Self” by Adam Curtis. https://youtu.be/eJ3RzGoQC4s It goes through each decade of the 1900s and explains how Freud’s psychology and the new field of marketing completely reshaped society. For the first time in my life I feel like I understood the “why” of how things work in American society. This film is probably best if you’re age 40+ and actually remember some of the events.

I like it but frankly don't get a solid 'revelation' out of it. Hypnotic, that's about it (for me).

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#415

Post by fauria »

España, la Primera Globalización (Spain, the First Globalization): https://m.imdb.com/title/tt14011090/reviews

I found it to be a great documentary where 39 historians from multiple countries narrate the history of the Spanish empire from their points of view.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#416

Post by woleium »

itronitron wrote: post #360
ethbr0 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> boomer-aimed catastrophe porn designed to give the viewer a smug sense of having "esoteric knowledge" I'll just balance it out with some TED optimism porn.

opens arms

https://youtu.be/_ZBKX-6Gz6A

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#417

Post by bsuvc »

I really enjoyed Indy Neidell's "The Great War", which is a week-by-week history of World War I on YouTube. https://youtube.com/c/TheGreatWarSeries

He is also doing the same thing for World War II: https://youtube.com/c/WorldWarTwo

It took me a couple of episodes to get used to his style, but after that, it really grew on me and I really looked forward to watching each episode.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#418

Post by itronitron »

asdfqwertzxcv wrote: post #70

Fires of Kuwait - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tUzkF_Dp8M A first hand account of the firefighters who were sent to cap the oil wells that Saddam set on fire during his attempt to invade the country. Senna https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aPLOQeSHrM The story of famed F1 driver. I'm not a racing fan but this one was amazing. Apollo 11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Co8Z8BQgWc Completely new footage was found of…

+1 on Fires of Kuwait, I saw that in a theater in the `90's and I've never forgotten the shot that starts at 2:28 in the YT video although it is minor in comparison to more recent footage (from Beirut and Ukraine for example).

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#419

Post by asdfqwertzxcv »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #26

The World at War - BBC documentary series about WWII. Shows humanity simultaneously at it's best and worst. The Vietnam War - Ken Burns documentary series. Very balanced and sobering take on the Vietnam war, events leading to the Vietnam war, and unrest in the US during that period. The Fog of War - Errol Morris doc about Robert McNamara. The Salt of the Earth - Doc about photographer Sebastião Salgado Alone in the W…

Just finished Dick Proenneke’s books, which the movie was based on. Such a great read that sounds boring - reading a guy’s journal as he lived alone in Alaska for nearly 30 years - but it felt like a warm blanket each time I’d dip into the books.

Want to note that he didn’t like the documentary. He felt it was too staged and inauthentic and didn’t use his voice as the voiceover. He mentioned that he wouldn’t do it again if asked.

Re: Ask HN: What are some of the best documentaries you've seen?

#420

Post by vermaden »

- Deathbed Vigil (1994)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4164962/

Chief engineer Dave Haynie of Commodore AMIGA documents company last days through eyes of former employees. Definitely would recommend.

- Robert Kubica - Legend (2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOGugc-T2jc

Story of a one and only Polish F1 and rally driver.

- Science of Fasting (2012)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2210982/

For half a century in Russia/Germany/U.S. doctors and biologists have been exploring a different therapeutic approach: fasting.

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