New Take on Documentaries

In class the documentaries we watched presented a new experience for me. I used to find documentaries boring, however throughout high school, I have grown to appreciate them. Now, I have begun to appreciate them not just for their messages, but their styles. I never really thought a documentary could be an animation, although the films we watched in class changed my perspective on documentaries all together.

I believe it is definitely possible to hate a film, yet still appreciate it. The film Ryan to me, sums up this belief. I absolutely hated the film, it was just harsh and dark and twisted, and I just did not like the feeling it gave me. As a documentary, I would not expect to feel that way about the topic. However, I can realize that this was the purpose of the film, it was supposed to be harsh. So I can appreciate it, and I did think the style was interesting. I just did not like the documentary at all.

Although, the documentary When Life Departs became my new favorite. I would not have thought that of all the films we have watched in class that a documentary would be my favorite. But I just was drawn to this film. It was intriguing to me that the animation style was intertwined with an actual documentary. It represented what the children were imagining when explaining their thoughts and feelings on death. I honestly think the film would not be the same if it was just a "normal" documentary. As an animation, I believe the film captures the meaning yet approaches the tough topic of death so simply that it makes it less harsh to take in. The style gave such an innocent tone, and evoked so many emotions, and memories. It was just so relatable, I got teary-eyed throughout the whole film. It was agonizing to hear all the pain and confusion the children were going through, I felt so much empathy. I love when films can hit home and evoke the emotions of their audience, just as this one did.  I just loved this documentary.