Movie #2125 "Collective" (netflix DVD) --- another academy award nominated documentary that is too long --- but this one kept me watching more intently because of the sharp focus --- it is one of those documetnaries that is occurring in "real time" --- it gives the impression that even the filmmaker doesn't know where it will end --- he just keeps shooting , and each shot becomes a piece of the puzzle --- I have always enjoyed this technique for documentaries ("Capturing the Friedmans" and the Syrian ones from the past couple of years) but this was challenging because of the subject matter: health care in Romania. I didn't always quite understand what was being covered, not knowing much about healthcare --- however, the huge fraud is easy to follow, and the journalist and his assistants are in awe (along with the viewer0 as the story unfolds. It kind of fizzles out at the end --- I wanted to an update, so I googled and found out that the guy with some integrity who had taken the job of trying to striaghten everything out lost his job, but then got it back in the past year --- so I assume he is still working on the mess! I just wish the filmmakers at the end updated us a bit --- and of course, I wish it was edited down to a shorter film. No Narrator, no explaining to the viewer, as other documentaries usually do --- the viewer just watches the investigation as it unfolds in real time. I'd give this a 4 out of 5 and would not be surprised if it takes the oscar this year --- it is also nominated for best international film. And that's a rarity. But films are pretty weak this year, but this one seems a bit better than the others, so far.....and it is one of two international films we can actually see because it is out on DVD and available through netflix. (Note: but this is the only documentary nominated that can't be streamed yet --- it's only available on DVD so far, but that should change in the next couple of weeks, I hope).
"COLLECTIVE" 1 hour and 49 mins 2019 (subtitles)
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