And the Pursuit of Happiness

An earnest and fairly even-handed documentary on immigrants, showing that despite the increase in population, the same arguments continue thirty years later. It's not a thoroughly researched doco, but it's refreshing to see such a restrained and easy-watching one that very unpretentiously portrays these immigrants and their new lives in America.

As a fairly recent (at the time) immigrant to the U.S. himself, Malle brings a particular empathy to the subject (albeit limited, since he was a world-famous film director). One of his greatest strengths as a movie-maker is his wide-ranging and seemingly unlimited curiosity, here in full evidence. Watching the segment about the U.S.-Mexico border, I was amazed at how little things have changed in the intervening almost-40 years. Except for the dignified treatment of the immigrants, of course.

american multiculturalism. of note is customs pre-9/11; it's almost as relaxed as airports in new zealand!

Malle documentary on the trials and successes of immigrants living in the United States. While the range of people Malle covers is impressive, he brings little new to the table here. In this day and age, we've seen most of these stories in popular culture dozens of times before.