Strong Island

The profoundness of the message that this documentary is trying to convey, hinges on whether you believe that a racial injustice was done. If you do, I'm sure you can take the two hours of lyrical descriptions about how the family fell apart, and see how this one death lead to all following misery. I myself did not.

A melancholy, deeply personal film that is deliberately paced and beautifully shot. Perhaps slightly too long, but very affecting.

The story could carry a short documentary, but not a feature length one. The pacing is very slow as well.

Although the filmmaker didn't really make a very favourable impression on this viewer, seeming more than a little disingenuous with the opening declaration of not being angry (resentful seemed more the word), and although the conclusions to which the film seemed to want to draw the viewer weren't drawn by this viewer, nevertheless it has to be acknowledged that there is space left open for disagreement, and that's a virtue not to be sneezed at nowadays. Even so, the problems are undeniable.

Deeply personal tale about a tragedy, its collateral effects, its uncertain outcome and the way it affected an entire family -- there was just silence and they never managed to get together to talk about Ford's death. The fact that the director is also so present, dealing with some of the facts that happened before the killing, just makes this even more poignant.

While I am sympathetic to the film's goals--especially in its concerns for empathy for the other and racial injustices small and great--I felt the middle 45 minutes felt more like filler--deeply personal and emotional at times, but I'm not sure they added much. I suspect a 40 minute version of this would be an absolute gut punch.