mike mills Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A few years ago, Mike Mills led us into the world of thumbsucking alienation with Thumbsucker. Much more than a tale of a mouth and a thumb, it detailed a kid diagnosed with ADD who finds one dependence replaced by another. While it is mainly about a kid who struggles, there was an interesting subtext about which is *really* the best thing to be dependent on. Was it really that bad for Justin to suck his thumb? Was it better to take daily doses of drugs than put an appendage in his mouth? While Mills doesn't want to be "Mr. Pharmacological Guy," he's looking into drugs again with his first documentary -- Does Your Soul Have a Cold?

The Reeler talked with the director after a screening during Paper's Un-Hollywood Film Series. Mills said: "I'm Mr. I-Feel-F*cked-Up-In-the-World-Guy. I definitely relate to people who are struggling to find a place where they feel OK. And in our day and age, that is so closely related to pharmacology. To me, it's a secondary impact of my real theme, which is that people are struggling...hopefully this is not symbolic, but more into the minutiae of subjective, concrete details of someone's experience with it [drugs]."

The documentary focuses on Japenese people who are suffering from depression, and the environment that has surrounded them -- how the country's culture has treated the illness in the past, and how the use of anti-depressants has soared since the '90s. The director captured some emotionally charged accounts of their struggles, and surmises that this is because of Japanese culture closeting conflict, and "favoritism toward all things Western." As for how the film plays, The Reeler says Mills' results "are mixed at best, but Soul excels in its depiction of cultural denial." Whatever the case, it sounds worth the time, it sounds worth the time if you have IFC. The channel will air the doc on October 22.

With plans to screen 100 documentaries in just six days, SilverDocs 2007 gets under way Tuesday, June 12 with Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, directed by Jim Brown (no, not that one; this one), which promises to interweave folk music, social upheaval and Seeger's life and music. Among the six films competing for the Music Documentary Award will be Hip Hop Revolution (history of hip hop in South Africa), Kurt Cobain About a Son (the late musician narrating his own journey) and Nomadak Tx (from Spain, about two musicians and a "magical instrument"). The Beyond Belief program explores "faith, fanaticism, spirituality and ethics in civil society," according to the press notes, and includes the world premieres of Living Goddess (a young girl worshipped as the incarnation of a Hindu goddess lives peacefully in traumatic times) and Orthodox Stance (love that title: a young immigrant in New York City must balance his Hasidic beliefs with his rising career as a boxer).

Politically-charged movies are certainly on the agenda. Just three higher-profile titles that caught my eye: 14 Women (Mary Lambert examines the lives of female US Senators), Lake of Fire (Tony Kaye on abortion; the press notes say it's "carefully balanced," but this is Tony Kaye, whose insane career Erik just wrote about) and State Legislature (Frederick Wiseman spends 217 minutes on "the inner workings of the democratic process," specifically in Idaho). And then there's the latest by Liz Garbus (Coma relates the stories of four victims), Mike Mills (Does Your Soul Have a Cold?, in which Japanese marketers tackle antidepressants), Helvetica (which James reviewed at South by Southwest) and the local premiere of the controversial Nanking (which Kim reviewed at Sundance). Artic Tale is the closing night presentation. My head is swimming with the possibilities. Even if you aren't planning to attend, the film guide is well worth checking out to see the wide range of material that's screening this week in and around Silver Spring, Maryland.