True objectivity nuanced by inspired artistry can and often does yield illuminating results. Any subject rendered without judgement is allowed its dignity and therefore, regardless of suspect content, elevated. Werner Herzog's wonderful “documentaries” display a spirit and bravery that most filmmakers shy away from. Herzog appears to make his own rules while eschewing conventional narrative. This kind of craftsmanship inevitably sculpts completely unique moments in time.
Alma Har'el's documentary film, "Bombay Beach," celebrates the beauty and agony (or the beauty IN the agony) of an impoverished community in the Sonoran Desert. It's an eighty minute ballet of life sliced down to its core elements. A modest and often times miraculous film about a microcosm of American culture. The story of a handful of souls carving out a spare existence in a town that most of us have no knowledge of whatsoever.
Many may know of The Salton Sea, one of the largest inland seas in the world, but who knewBombay Beach existed on the U.S. map?The film is unrelenting in its inability to discard frivolous analytical points. Har'el refuses to paint any of her strange characters as stereotypes or oddballs. The inhabitants of this tiny (population less than 300) city (if one can call it that?) on the edge of the San AndreasFault are doing well to just survive and carry on with their desert lives.
The Salton Sea acts as a geographic touchstone for the people of Bombay Beach (we see a child playing on the edges of the sea with his mother nearby). The adults struggle, the children frolic, and the old act as philosophers (the film's most inspired character is an old man who utters profundities like he's breathing desert air, "Life is nothing but a habit, anyway").
The sudden jolts of reality and wisdom are genuine discoveries and this is precisely what makes the movie work so well. The director gives us a distilled portrait of poor Americans existing in a place that time does not bother to touch. A group of African American teens find community and ritual in discussions of clumsy sexual attempts, a little boy suffers from behavioral problems numbed by contemporary medication, and an old man revels in his ability to stave off evil ("Thieves…") and remain a sage in the twilight of his life.
These peopleorbit each other in some kind of celestial harmony that's quiet and natural. We get the impression the last thing they want is to call attention to themselves. And although violence and endemic social ruptures are clearly part of this isolated territory- an unnerving calm dominates the proceedings. Har'el shows us the glory in these human beings. The troubled spirits dance in this desolate area (quite literally).
With a solid soundtrack that includes music by Beirut and Bob Dylan, the narrative drifts along like a continuation of the waves rolling in from the Salton Sea- without pretense or intrusive commentary. It's the filmmaker's sensibility (Har'el edited the film as well) that keepsthe proceedings solemn and open for interpretation.
Har'el is a documentarian with a creative and tasteful touch and has correctly deemed this story valid and admirable. It's always refreshing and joyful to witness an artist with the courage to be objective. The result of such bravery is a documentary film with heart and soul. A movie that proves movies can nourish and be monumental in their acknowledgment of those who might otherwise remain anonymous.
The art of the film documentary has found its footing in a ravished and disillusioned post-Bush, Jr. America and Alma Har'el is an able-bodied, able-minded practitioner.
Visit the online theater Constellation T.V. to watch "Bombay Beach."
DIRECTOR: Alma Har'el PRODUCERS: Boaz Yakin, Alma Har'el RUN TIME: 80 minutes MPAA RATING: Unrated
