Commune (film)

Last updated
Commune
Commune FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed byJonathan Berman
Written byJonathan Berman
Produced byJonathan Berman
CinematographyJonathan Berman
Tamas Bojtor
Alan Deutsch
Rob VanAlkemade
Music byElliott Sharp
Release date
  • June 26, 2005 (2005-06-26)(San Francisco Jewish Film Festival)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Commune is a 2005 documentary film by Jonathan Berman. The film is about an intentional community located in Siskiyou County, California called Black Bear Ranch and features narration by Peter Coyote who himself once resided at Black Bear.

Contents

Reception

Commune was well received with a score of 95% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. [1] Metacritic lists Commune with a score of 74 out of 100. [2]

Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide pronounced it "A close examination of a quintessential '60s phenomenon that speaks volumes about the attitudes and experiences that shaped the decade ... captivating. [3] Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com said "Amid the dozens of documentaries made about various aspects of '60s society and culture, "Commune" stands out for its ambiguity, honesty and sheer human clarity ... an extraordinary collage." [4]

A New York Times review, titled "Just a Hardy Bunch of Settlers Who Left America and Moved to California", described the commune veterans: "However weatherbeaten they appear, they still have a light in their eyes, and they exude the hardy spirit of pioneers who are older and wiser but unbowed," adding that they look back with "pride, amusement, and sadness." [5] A review in the New York Sun , provides more specifics on a fundraising technique one former member called "emotional blackmail," claiming that the $22,000 initial land purchase was acquired by pitching rock musicians that:

You're making money off our lifestyle. It's time you gave back some to us. [6]

The San Francisco Chronicle , [7] The Village Voice , [8] and Variety [9] all gave the film positive reviews. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinesh D'Souza</span> Indian-American political commentator

Dinesh Joseph D'Souza is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them New York Times best-sellers.

<i>Salon.com</i> American progressive news and opinion website focusing on U.S. politics and culture

Salon is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Linklater</span> American film director, producer and screenwriter (b. 1960)

Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for films that revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); and the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sarsgaard</span> American actor (born 1971)

John Peter Sarsgaard is an American actor. His first feature role was in Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), playing Raoul, the ill-fated son of Athos. Sarsgaard later achieved critical recognition when he was cast in Boys Don't Cry (1999) as John Lotter. He landed his first leading role in the 2001 film The Center of the World.

<i>Bamako</i> (film) 2006 Malian film

Bamako is a 2006 film directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, first released at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May and in Manhattan by New Yorker Films on 14 February 2007.

Black Bear Ranch is an 80-acre intentional community located in Siskiyou County, California, about 25 miles from Forks of Salmon. It was founded in 1968, with the watchword "free land for free people". It has been considered by some participants and commentators to be one of the more radical examples of communal living/intentional communities that grew out of the counterculture of the 1960s.

<i>Boyhood</i> (2014 film) 2014 film directed by Richard Linklater

Boyhood is a 2014 American epic coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Richard Linklater, and starring Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, and Ethan Hawke. Filmed from 2002 to 2013, Boyhood depicts the childhood and adolescence of Mason Evans Jr. (Coltrane) from ages six to eighteen as he grows up in Texas with divorced parents. Richard Linklater's daughter Lorelei plays Mason's sister, Samantha.

<i>The Diving Bell and the Butterfly</i> (film) 2007 film by Julian Schnabel

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a 2007 biographical drama film directed by Julian Schnabel and written by Ronald Harwood. Based on Jean-Dominique Bauby's 1997 memoir of the same name, the film depicts Bauby's life after suffering a massive stroke that left him with a condition known as locked-in syndrome. Bauby is played by Mathieu Amalric.

<i>Man on Wire</i> 2008 documentary film directed by James Marsh

Man on Wire is a 2008 documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Petit's 2002 book, To Reach the Clouds, released in paperback with the title Man on Wire. The title of the film is taken from the police report that led to the arrest of Petit, whose performance lasted for almost an hour. The film is crafted like a heist film, presenting rare footage of the preparations for the event and still photographs of the walk, alongside re-enactments and present-day interviews with the participants, including Barry Greenhouse, an insurance executive who served as the inside man.

<i>The 3 Rooms of Melancholia</i> 2004 film by Pirjo Honkasalo

The 3 Rooms of Melancholia is a 2004 Finnish documentary film written, directed and co-produced by Pirjo Honkasalo. The film documents the devastation and ruin brought on by the Second Chechen War, more specifically the toll that the war had taken on the children of Chechnya and Russia.

<i>Until the Light Takes Us</i> 2008 film by Aaron Aites

Until the Light Takes Us is an American documentary film about early Norwegian black metal by directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell. The film premiered at the AFI Film Festival in 2008, a year before it was released in film theaters.

<i>The Kids Are All Right</i> (film) 2010 film by Lisa Cholodenko

The Kids Are All Right is a 2010 American comedy-drama film directed by Lisa Cholodenko and written by Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg. It is among the first mainstream movies to show a same-sex couple raising two teenagers. A hit at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, it opened in limited release on July 9, 2010, expanded to more theaters on July 30, 2010, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 16, 2010. The film was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Annette Bening was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film also received four Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture, at the 83rd Academy Awards.

<i>Waiting for "Superman"</i> 2010 American film

Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Davis Guggenheim and produced by Lesley Chilcott. The film criticizes the American public education system by following several students as they strive to be accepted into competitive charter schools such as KIPP LA Schools, Harlem Success Academy and Summit Preparatory Charter High School.

<i>Damsels in Distress</i> (film) 2011 film by Whit Stillman

Damsels in Distress is a 2011 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman and starring Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, and Lio Tipton. It is set at a United States East Coast university. First screened at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, it opened in New York and Los Angeles on April 6, 2012.

<i>Whores Glory</i> 2011 film by Michael Glawogger

Whores’ Glory is a 2011 documentary by Michael Glawogger. It shows the life of prostitutes from Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico.

<i>Dinosaur 13</i> 2014 American film

Dinosaur 13 is a 2014 American documentary film directed and produced by Todd Douglas Miller. The film premiered in competition category of U.S. Documentary Competition program at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2014.

<i>The Decent One</i> 2014 film

The Decent One is a 2014 German-Austrian-Israeli documentary directed by Vanessa Lapa about Heinrich Himmler. The film was based on a cache of letters and diary entries that were purchased by Lapa's parents and published in the German newspaper Die Welt. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and received mixed reviews.

Jonathan Berman is an American film producer, director, screenwriter, and academic. He is best known for his documentary work as producer and film director of The Shvitz (1993), My Friend Paul (1999), Commune (2005), and Calling All Earthlings (2018). His non-fiction feature films explore subculture and identity, depicting how alternative people, groups and ideas are represented in media. Berman currently serves as a Professor at California State University San Marcos.

References

  1. "Commune". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  2. "Commune". metacritic.com. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  3. "Commune". tvguide.com. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  4. "Stories about Movies". salon.com. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  5. Just a Hardy Bunch of Settlers Who Left America and Moved to California, by Stephen Holden. New York Times, Nov. 3, 2006
  6. "Trying To Remember the Family Band", by James Bowman, New York Sun, Nov. 3, 2006.
  7. "Idyllic life, ideals / 'Commune' Documentary revels in glory days of Black Bear Ranch, which continues to be a haven". sfgate.com. 22 February 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  8. "New York Movies - 'Commune' - page 1". archive.org. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. Koehler, Robert (14 February 2005). "Review: 'Commune'". variety.com. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  10. "Commune". avclub.com. 2 November 2006. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  11. Ordona, Michael (10 November 2006). "The '60s ended for a reason" . Retrieved 8 April 2017 via LA Times.
  12. "Roots of a Flower Family". 3 November 2006. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09.
  13. "Breaking News, World News, US and Local News - NY Daily News - New York Daily News". New York Daily News . Archived from the original on 2012-11-07.
  14. "Entertainment & the Arts - "Commune": A '60s utopia stands the test of time - Seattle Times Newspaper". nwsource.com. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  15. O'Hehir, Andrew (2 November 2006). "Beyond the Multiplex". salon.com. Retrieved 8 April 2017.