62 of the best documentaries, from 1930 to 2020

September 26, 2023 7:36 PM

Sixty-two Films That Shaped the Art of Documentary Filmmaking by Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Oct 2020.
posted by Westringia F. (17 comments total)

This is an excellent list - very different from many of the lists posted to the Blue lately in that it seems to have hardly any of what I would consider the usual candidates for inclusion (even with my minimal knowledge of documentaries). Night and Fog, Grey Gardens and Shoah are pretty widely known, and The Beaches of Agnes might even count as popular, but most of the rest don't seem very familiar to the casual moviegoer. The Frederick Wiseman entry, for example, is one I hadn't heard of.

It's nice to see a few clips linked, as well, to get a taste of some of these.

I've particularly been wanting to see Shirkers; it reminds me a bit of Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell just in its revisiting of earlier years and the influence of older creatives on the filmmaker.

Thank you so much for posting this, Westringia F. - I'm glad to have a chance to learn about a bunch of provocative storytelling.
posted by kristi at 8:09 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

I haven't read the article but I want to say I truly admire your tag work.
posted by hippybear at 8:30 PM on September 26, 2023 [9 favorites]

OK, I'll be the first to dis this list: Does not include "This Is Spın̈al Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi."
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:50 PM on September 26, 2023 [6 favorites]

I am excited to watch some of these, but it seems weird that nothing by either Errol Morris nor Werner Herzog appear on the list. Still, I'm not familiar with most of these, so I can't really judge.
posted by Literaryhero at 9:15 PM on September 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Archive link, if anyone else finds they hit a paywall partway through.

Thanks for posting. First on my list to watch from this will be Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property. Turner's Rebellion is fascinating, and I like the idea of trying to simultaneously examine the historical personage and the previous portrayals of that person. And available currently on Amazon Prime and Tubi. Welfare sounds great too, and seems to be available on Kanopy.
posted by the primroses were over at 9:57 PM on September 26, 2023 [2 favorites]

I second Hippybear's comment.
posted by rmmcclay at 9:57 PM on September 26, 2023

I'm surprised 'Vietnam: A Television History' was not included, though it is 13 hours long and difficult to watch.
'With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade" is quite good and crucial in labor studies.
Shoah would be the hardest to watch.
posted by clavdivs at 10:09 PM on September 26, 2023

A Grin Without a Cat instead of Sans Soleil, curious, but then again, it's hard to say what that film is even about. Couldn't think of a more influential film in terms of essayist storytelling though.
posted by quoquo at 11:44 PM on September 26, 2023

Fantastic list, thanks for posting it!
posted by kmt at 1:33 AM on September 27, 2023

Here's the list transcribed into Letterboxd
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 6:58 AM on September 27, 2023

This list is invalid because it doesn't contain any of my favorite documentaries.

OK, just kidding, but here are my favorites for anyone who wants to check them out:
Hands on a Hardbody (1997)
Spellbound (2002)
Wordplay (2006)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:01 AM on September 27, 2023

No mention of these great documentaries?
Harlan County, USA
Hotel Terminus
When We Were Kings
Into the Arms of Strangers
Man on Wire
Seems to me he likes some very small, personal, “made-by-person-with-camera” films.
posted by Ideefixe at 7:48 AM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

it bears mentioning that the title of the linked article is Sixty-two Films That Shaped the Art of Documentary Filmmaking

the title of the post is confusing the issue.

regardless, good topic. thanks.
posted by elkevelvet at 8:57 AM on September 27, 2023 [2 favorites]

I would say the list is certainly interesting with titles that aren't usually mentioned on such lists but I'll echo Ideefixe that the omissions of influential documentaries is unusual and leans hard on very personal films. Not that there is anything wrong really in that as there are lots on this list to like.
posted by Ashwagandha at 9:03 AM on September 27, 2023

I'd hoped this would include a documentary film-maker who I spotted on the blue but who has evaded me ever since.

I feel like his films were brief, maybe 10 minutes? And he self-narrates with a very stilted, almost technical language, over generic footage of people in a major U.S. city (New York?)
I realize this is such a vague description.
But it was very subtly like Herzog, a monotone voice, reading from a script that could be from an advanced sociology text, and the imagery of people going about their daily activities subtly and brilliantly illuminated the words he was speaking.

It felt... "on the spectrum" - and I mean that in the kindest sense of the word. Wish I could find those clips, I know it was on youtube and it was posted here maybe five years ago or so. Can't find them to save my life.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:41 AM on September 27, 2023

Highly recommend "The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On", if you can find it anywhere!, an incredibly moving document of the effects of violence on the soul.
posted by dis_integration at 2:01 PM on September 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On—archive.org
I don’t think all or even many of these chosen films had that much influence on documentary as a genre or even a style of film-making.
posted by Ideefixe at 2:13 PM on September 27, 2023 [3 favorites]