This is something I've said on these pages many times, but over at the Sundance Film Festival, the best movies are almost always the documentaries.
When I covered Sundance for its first 20 years, invariably I was disappointed by dramatic film after dramatic film (with some exceptions, of course). But it was rare that a documentary was disappointing.
Often they are as captivating as the best dramatic films, as three excellent new videos demonstrate:
"Truth & Conviction" (Covenant, 2002, not rated, $24.95). A chilling account of three teenage boys in Nazi Germany who defied the Third Reich, "Truth & Conviction" is a startling film about standing up for truth against the most threatening circumstances. And heroism can surface where it is least expected.
In 1941, a small branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was divided over Nazism, but the branch president was pro-Nazi and often forced his views on the members. However, 16-year-old Helmuth Hubener remained unconvinced, and when he got hold of a short-wave radio, he began listening to BBC English broadcasts — an activity that was strictly forbidden.
From those broadcasts, Hubener discovered the truth about Nazi atrocities and the Allied war effort, which motivated him to write . . . using the church typewriter . . . and distribute fliers denouncing Hitler. He also recruited Rudi Wobbe and Karl-Heinz Schnibbe, two teenage Mormon friends, to help.
Eventually, a flier fell into the wrong hands and the boys were arrested. Hubener was executed and his friends imprisoned. In 1945, Wobbe was released, but Schnibbe was forced to march with the German army in the weeks before the end of the war; he was captured by Russian soldiers and spent four years in a Russian prison camp.
Schnibbe is the sole survivor of the trio, and he tells much of the story here, along with a pair of BYU historians and some people who knew the boys during this time. As riveting a show as the documentary provides, the extras on the DVD are also quite good, with filmmakers Matt Whitaker and Rick McFarland illuminating the story even more.
This locally produced effort aired on KBYU-Ch. 11 last month, and will air again in February. But the film is available on VHS and DVD locally — and if your local rental store doesn't have it, tell them to get it.
Extras: Widescreen, making-of documentaries, extended footage, photo gallery, etc.
"Ansel Adams" (PBS, 2002, not rated, $19.98). In dramatic biographical films, directors struggle with how to make writers, artists or photographers interesting. Simply showing someone at a typewriter, an easel or with camera in hand can be awfully dull. But this Ric Burns documentary (co-produced by the Sierra Club), which aired on PBS last spring, shows how it can be done.
Adams was, of course, the acclaimed environmental photographer who worked in black and white, whose photographs helped raise public awareness of the wilderness, and in particular, the Sierra Nevada and his beloved Yosemite. And the film includes readings from his writings, and snippets of interviews he gave over the years, as well as a strong sense of who Adams was, where he came from and how his life shaped his art.
"The Donner Party" (PBS, 1992, not rated, $19.98). Say "Donner Party" and people tend to automatically think of pioneers who survived a harsh winter by turning to cannibalism. But that's only a small part of the story, as shown by this heartbreaking documentary (also by Ric Burns), which includes readings by celebrities (Timothy Hutton, Eli Wallach, etc.) from journals and letters of those involved.
The struggle of ordinary people hoping to find a better life by traveling to California over daunting mountains in treacherous weather particularly resonates with our history. But this story is especially wrenching, and Burns manages to capture all the drama and conflict with an emotional wallop.
E-MAIL: hicks@desnews.com