MovieChat Forums > Sweetgrass (2011) Discussion > Went to see this yesterday

Went to see this yesterday

posted 14 years ago by Flickfan-3
10 replies | jump to latest

OK-- I went to see this yesterday at the Angelika in Dallas
there were about 10 people in the first 130 showing--
I had read some reviews and seen trailers
I wanted to like this--maybe I just had more stuff on my plate and could not help watching the time flow as slow as a glacier--pre global warming speed...

it is picturesque--it is definitely realistic--there are subtle attractions that capture your interest--
but frankly the filmmakers are their own worse enemies--
you are thrown into this film with only the most rudimentary information about geography--
nothing about the PEOPLE--you learn names only by listening to conversation that is difficult to understand because of the mikes and the wind noise (and the sheep) and people don't use each other's names that often...
we get nothing about what is going on--so you are immersed in this world with no context--It is easy to see the factual events--the shearing, lambing, the drive--but there is no real connection to WHO these people are

that might be viewed as cutting-edge but it is also off-putting and frustrating when as a viewer you want to have a connection to what you see

I left after the first hour--it was hard to tell if they were still on their way to summer camp or had gotten there but it was the first night shown after the drive started--so I felt like it was going to be interminable--

sheep ranching is a dirty business--and terribly physically demanding--why the people do it was not a part of what I saw--so in a way that turns them into dumb brutes themselves...there is a little humor between some of the stockmen but nothing personal that identifies any of them, their values, their love of what they do--if they feel it--
maybe that comes after I left...

filmmakers had a vision--they captured it on film after some terrible hardships and endurance and commitment--but it is a very different slice of life and it is not going to be translateable to most people--they are not going to put in the time to watch a moving picture show of encyclopedia knowledge about sheep ranching--the fact that this is a tribute film to a dying way of life is not given up to the point I left--there is no justification for why anyone should watch this documentary or why it has value--
again maybe that comes later--

but if you have to read about the movie before you go see it so that you know WHY you should watch it --above the viewing experience itself--it is too much like taking bad-tasting medicine because you know it is for your own good...
if they want it to reach a wider audience--it probably has to be more palatible...
this is not going to be a My Big Fat Greek Wedding for documentaries...IMO

"...That's the beauty of argument, Joey. If you argue correctly, you're never wrong..."

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] prudhocj 14 years ago

All that said.....you sadly missed a jewel of a movie! Apparently you can't relate to a movie that you have to work at involving yourself in. Otherwise the documentary of the year!!

[–] Flickfan-3 14 years ago

as I said--
might go back when I felt I had more time w/o other commitments pressing...

if you have seen it--why no posts before now...

"...That's the beauty of argument, Joey. If you argue correctly, you're never wrong..."

[–] prudhocj 14 years ago

I apologize....upon rereading my post this AM I was too harsh on you.

"if you have seen it--why no posts before now..."

I didn't see it until May 4 and went back to see it again yesterday....2 days later. The second time around I didn't have to concentrate so much on what dialogue there was and trying to figure out what was happening. I was able to just sit back and enjoy the expansiveness of the cinematography and the hardships of the job. I also enjoyed the sheep more as characters in their own right.....they often made me laugh over their puzzled looks and sigh over their simple, hard lives. They pulled off some great double-takes! I really felt for the herder with the bum knee crying on the phone while talking to his mother from a mountaintop surrounded by scenic grandeur.

[–] jrhpax 14 years ago

The original poster was correct. I watched the entire documentary, and it's one of the most boring movies I've ever seen.

[–] TheBeardedWonder 14 years ago

Yeah, and it's not the subject matter that's boring. It's the way it's presented by the film makers. No dialogue/characters wouldn't be a problem later on if they develop them early. Get some interviews, some 'this is how I see it' kind of things so we know the people and why they do it.

But no, we get the act of them moving the sheep, but we never understand any more than that. It shows us it's a hard journey, but we have no idea why the people do it.

This is a doc about the sheep herding journey itself (yawn) and NOT the people, and is a poor movie due to that fact, I agree.

"Did you mean for all those words to come out like that or did they just fall out randomly?"-H.H.

[–] Thomasina 14 years ago

I was really torn about this movie. Part of me really slipped into the contemplative pace and the harsh beauty. It is funny that Brokeback Mountain (which is a movie I love) is the first comparative title listed here, because while I was watching Sweetgrass, I really did think about it in terms of a real-time, real-life glimpse into the characters in that movie (with the obvious exception that we learn next to nothing about the people's interpersonal relationships in Sweetgrass, while that is an important aspect of Brokeback Mountain.)
On the other hand, I did find it somewhat frustrating that there was no information given about what we were seeing. It was as if the filmmakers were expecting only audience members who already had an exhaustive knowledge of shepherding, which, statistically, is highly unlikely.

[–] Flickfan-3 14 years ago

an audience's perspective puts value into a film--
we can sympathize, empathize, hate, ignore, laugh, cry-- judge -- based on our innate and learned sense of perspective on so many levels

I came to that movie wanting to like it and wanting to respect the people who made it and who are featured in it--not for being movie stars or movie makers but because they themselves respect a specific way of life that is being marginalized.
I discovered that without some type of framework and "legend" (like a map's legend) I was just really adrift
it was almost like watching a foreign film where there are no subtitles--
if there is no "language" or common bond to tie the watcher to what is watched--there IS no connection...
it is basically like watching a thousand calendar pages ruffle by...

"...That's the beauty of argument, Joey. If you argue correctly, you're never wrong..."

[–] Holden27 14 years ago

I agree with Flickfan.

I felt like a sheep myself watching this documentary. At times I didn't know why the farmers were doing something, where they were herding the sheep, how long they would stay there, how they are organized ... all I saw and heard were sheep.

I also wanted to like it, but hardly learned anything about the advertised American cowboys or sheep farming. I was also hoping for some good panoramic shots of the country, but the movie didn't deliver this either.

It felt really effortless. It was like one of the cowboys took a camera with him, occasionally took some shots on the journey, back at home used Windows Movie Maker and after an hour, there you go, a movie.

Like said before, this documentary depicts a special way of life in the country, but people who saw it were probably mostly from the urban areas, so it could really use some narrating, interviewing, and captioning. It's an interesting storyline, but the movie fails in fulfilling its potential.

[–] WarpedRecord 13 years ago

Well, I saw plenty of panoramic shots of the country, and I think the cinematography was excellent here. But I also could have used more context.

I do appreciate free-form, minimalist documentaries, but this could have at least used an introduction and a bit of explanation during the change of scenes. It explained just a bit at the end with the captioning, but that was too little, too late.

I was also puzzled about some of the supporting sheepherders here. At the beginning, there's a woman and at least one other men, but then it's just down to two men. Where did the others go, and what were the remaining men doing? Sometimes, I was hard to tell what season it was.

Still I gave it 7/10 based on the astounding camera work and the feel this film gave me for the sheepherders work. It just didn't give me enough explanation beyond the feel.