Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
starz docnight - king
of corn (aaron woolfe)
Thursday, January 24 - 7:00pm Director Aaron Woolf
IN-PERSON!
DocNight shines a spotlight on the
genre from all angles—the investigations
it undertakes, controversies it awakens and discoveries
it makes—with Q&A sessions and filmmaker
receptions to follow each screening.
- By A. Tom Collins
"King Corn" starts off a little too
much like a re-visitation of "Supper Size
Me," with a sequence of fast food drive-thrus
and piles of junk food. The premise is revealed
by a trip to the doctor to analyze the filmmaker’s
diet, and you begin to discover that corn is actually
the major ingredient in America’s diet.
This is where the similarities stop and "King
Corn" blows the other movie out of the water
in every consideration.
Not only is "King Corn" a more compelling
story than "Supper Size Me," it is told
in a way that leaves the audience intrigued and
educated. The film is based on the presupposition
that almost every product in modern American food
markets have come in contact with corn, either
as an ingredient, or as a feed stock in the case
of meat.
The other link is ancestry. Two of the filmmakers’
great great grandfathers come from the same small
town, Greene, Iowa, where the two travel to take
a stab at growing their own single acre of corn.
While the anticipation of watching an acre of
corn grow seems as unappealing in the film as
it does on paper, once the two get to Iowa, the
film hits its stride and captures your attention
for the next 90 minutes.
What makes this film utterly enjoyable is that
even though it is a film about the aversion and
repugnance of American food production, the filmmakers
Aaron Wolf, Curt Ellis, and Ian Cheney
never take out any anger on the farmers. Rather,
the film treats them with respect and dignity,
and shows how these farmers have become victims
of the industrialization of food production just
as much as the consumers. The farmers are given
the chance to tell their story, and as the audience
gets to know them, they begin to appreciate them.
Unlike most documentaries this film presents
beautiful cinematography. The landscape shots
and pictures of rural life allow the audience
to experience the pure magnificence of Middle
America, which also creates an affinity for the
film’s setting. With a premise that could
so easily become two kids from the east coast
looking down on the hicks from Iowa, the filmmakers
take a higher road and show their subjects in
a bright and colorful light.
This balance is both refreshing and commendable.
Toward the end of the film you began to get angry
and want to hold some one accountable. Up until
this point the antagonist has been Henry
A. Wallace, the developer of the Farm
Bill under President Roosevelt. At the climax
of the movie the two documentarians go and interview
the aging Wallace, and here the film goes from
good to truly great.
Instead of needling the old man, they tactfully
let him explain his reasoning for the Farm Bill.
Instead of a confrontation, there is a realization
that his motivation for the bill was actually
very valid, and Wallace himself seems a bit frustrated
with the extent that agriculture has been industrialized.
Now without an evil politician to hang the blame
on the viewer is suddenly forced to realize the
blame rest on our shoulders. As consumers we are
too apathetic to change how we procure our food,
or question the components of the food we eat.
This is the true brilliance of this film.
Anyone can rally against the giant industrial
complex and make all aspects of it seem evil.
But Wolf, Ellis and Cheney challenge their audience
to look at themselves, and their individual part
in the system, in order to motivate the viewer
into action.
The film’s website contains more than just
information on the film, they provide a “Take
Action” link to become educated so you can
"nudge our food system in a different direction.
Fortunately, there's a lot to do!" You can
read the Farm Bill itself while reviewing their
six ideas of how you can take back control of
your food…and your body.
