Darkon

I learned something new this week. I have always been a little disdainful of documentaries. I considered them something that old people, like my parents, enjoy watching on PBS. But yesterday was the first time in my life that I watched a documentary purely for enjoyment. I learned that watching a documentary can be a very enjoyable experience, given that you are interested in the film’s subject.

The film that I watched yesterday was Darkon, a very enjoyable documentary centering on the grown men and women that play LARPs, or Live Action Role Playing games. The games are relatively simple in rules, yet complex in execution. All the players are split into nations and races, each player has their own character that they have personally created, and the nations form alliances, go to war with each other, or just peaceably live together. Basically, the game is like creating a separate life for yourself in a fantasy world that you can influence through your actions. The land of Darkon meets one weekend every two weeks with a continuous story and characters. The film Darkon, especially focuses on two men, the leaders of the two major imaginary nations in the play world . These two nations begin at peace, but through the course of the film, relations begin to strain, until it seems like war is the only option.

The first time I was ever introduced to LARPs was when I saw last year’s Role Models. At the time I thought it looked like a fun way to spend your weekends and wondered why I had never heard of it, being the nerd that I am. I’m not so much of a geek that I do not recognize the pathos of a grown man being immersed in a fantasy world like this, but that does not deter me from wishing there was a group around town that I could try out. That is what makes this film so endearing, it is intelligent enough to recognize the humor in the game, yet does not make fun of or in any way look down upon its players. The film shows us both the real life and the in-game lives of the players in such a way that we see them as people, not some caracatures of friendless nerds living in their parents’ basement.

The story in this documentary is compelling, I found myself rooting for the nation to win their battles, even though I had never met these people and had never played any kind of game like this before. The drama in this film is more compelling than anything a writer could dream up, and it’s all the more compelling since it’s real. The camera work was excellent, getting all the action at all the right angles. The music especially stood out as well done. Normally, a documentary has little music, and if it does have some, it’s the kind that you barely notice as being there. In Darkon, the music complimented the action well and I found myself humming a few bars long after watching the film.

Overall, I thought this little film was endearing, emotional, and excellent for those people who don’t enjoy documentaries.

The Best thing about this movie is that you can enjoy it for free online, at snagfilms.com

-J

American Teen

American Teen is a very striking and dynamic documentary about normal, everyday American teens. The movie follows four main characters from different cliques throughout their high school careers. The characters include a homecoming princess, a basketball jock, a band geek, and a complete rebel and outsider. In the beginning the movie feels very flat and unemotional. The teens are all good actors, but nothing feels real. It was like watching an MTV show like The Hills. You want to believe it's real but everything is just too flat. But then, the rebel character gets dumped by her boyfriend and true emtions begin to show. With tears and laughter the teens work through many hardships of high school: from being cheated on, to getting caught vandalizing, to trying to get into college. While something about the movie feels a little unrealistic, many of the plot elements are dead on about high school. One scene portrays a young girl sending a nude photo of her self to a guy and having the photo sent all around the school via email and text messages. This plot point is so very realistic. For those of you who aren't in high school right now this may seem crazy, but this very thing has happened several times at my high school. Watching this movie, I feel as if someone stuck a camera in my school. And I'm sure any other teen watching this movie would feel the same way. While some of the characters are stereotypical and overdone, the plot is so emotional and realistic that it makes up for the other flaws in the movie. It takes a little getting into, but once you've started watching this movie you'll be hooked until the end.

-H