A list of the 41 best documentary films of all time, according to 17 Facebook friends.

Now a while ago I posted a request for my Facebook friends to give me their opinions on the best music films of all time. Somehow this broad request got narrowed down into just non-fiction suggestions, which to be honest didn't bother me in the slightest, seeing as another of my favourite genres of film is in fact the documentary.

So with that thought in mind, I had all the faith in the world in my Facebook massive (or at least relatively large) to produce the goods once again. With the earlier list of music films I didn't comment on individual films, however this time around I'll give you the skinny on a film or two, and I'll first list the titles that really left an impression on me.

Here are the results of my latest status update request:

"OK people of good taste. Following on from my 'best films about music' post a wee while back... please post your favourite DOCUMENTARY film."

The following should be more than worthy of residing vertically under a fridge magnet...

4 to 5 on the Lewisometer:

Dark Days.
Please see this film before you die. Shot by an altruistic citizen cum accidental director, I love every single moment of this film. Full of tragedy and hope, and pretty much every other emotion in between, this is an against all odds kind of an affair set in a world within a world (cue Venn diagram?)

As I'd recommend for any film truly worth watching, in lieu of seeing it at the cinema get the DVD and pore over all the extras as well. DJ Shadow had never lent his music to anything when this came out, and had absolutely no connection to the director. After one viewing he offered up the entire soundtrack for free.

Grizzly Man
Looking like he'd be more at home on the ski slopes of France, and sounding like the bastard child of Richard Simmons and a disco ball, Timothy Treadwell believes he is at one with the Grizzly bears of Alaska, and as such decides to live with them.

A porridge free tale of man and Grizzly ensues.

Touching the Void.
The ultimate 'against all odds' story, retracing the steps of two climbers who run into trouble while descending Siula Grande, Peru. Believing he is leaving his compadre for dead, Simon Yates cuts the rope connecting himself to Joe Simpson and makes it back to base camp... as does Joe many days later.

I'd recommend watching this in company, so you can treat yourself to the inevitable 'what would you have done?' conversation afterward. Amazing.

When We Were Kings.
When I was younger I believed I was extremely open minded, though in reality I was quite a naive hater when it came to a number of things, especially sport, and especially especially violent sport. Yes I was a 20 year old wet bus ticket liberal, but you try being bought up by an academic sole female parent in the era of the Springbok tour and the Homosexual Law Reform bill. You're left automatically assuming the All Blacks would have bleeding knuckles and smell of liniment and rape should you ever have the pleasure of meeting them. Thankfully moments like seeing When We Were Kings began to open my eyes.

Muhammad Ali is the G.O.A.T. and When We Were Kings is a killer...

NB: If you dig the horny horns, then also make a point of seeing Soul Power.


When the Levees Broke.
An examination of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Also a Spike Lee joint.

Originally made for HBO as a four part television series, Levees is a weighty 255 minutes, with every minute essential viewing. Thus I recommend watching this alone, or at least with someone else willing to commit. Otherwise it'll only take a "Hey man have you seen Sarah lately?" or a "I'm thinking about learning to Salsa dance!" before the film has lost everybody in the room and you're blacklisted from choosing the DVD again.

NB: A worst case scenario here is that rather than the film being lost on people who would have loved it as much as you had concentration not lapsed, you actually have somehow ended up in long-term cohabitation with morons. This will mean any number of Brendan Fraser films in the lounge over the coming months.

In-film quote that sums up Levies:

Kayne West (Live on NBC): "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Word.

Alone Across Australia.
You know when you're up late at night for absolutely no reason other than an unplanned lack of fatigue? But you're not quite awake enough to do anything vaguely productive? So you settle on viewing infomercials, or at best a strangely scheduled 12am rerun of some kind of emergency service reality show? Do you know those times? Do you? Hmmm?

It was one such time that I stumbled across AAA on Australia's ABC. It made my week, and now it's made my best of the best list.

On the 18th of May 2001 Jon Muir and his dog Seraphine began to walk across Australia entirely on foot. 128 days and 2,500 kilometres later, Jon arrives in Burketown, becoming the first person ever to walk solo and unassisted across the continent.

Apologies for the bleeding obvious, but there's fuck all in the middle of Aussie outside of heat, and Muir faces a hell of a lot along the way. Just like Touching the Void and Man On Wire, it's a true testament to the power of the human spirit.

Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator.
So I initially got this out simply because I am a male child of the eighties. If you are too then chances are you know what Mark "Gator" Ragowski meant to skateboarding and to popular culture worldwide. I just meant to reminisce and kinda hoped for a decent film as well.

Now, a truly exceptional documentary to me transcends the actual topic, whereby everybody enjoys it regardless of their interest in, say, Scrabble or ponies or free Jazz. Stoked fits this criteria. Treat yourself to a tale of extreme narcissm, Eighties excess, and repugnant violent crime. Mark Gator, my friends, is a cunt.

So there is my top seven. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that I'll probably wish I'd included this one or that one or whatever, but at the end of the day there's some damn fine viewing in just a few taps of the 'Page Up". There's also some damn fine viewing in a few taps of the "Page Down", some of which I've seen, some of which I haven't.

Like I mentioned in my earlier posting as regards the best music films of all time, I've not edited these results according to my own opinion. Take Zeitgeist for example. This film puts the fear of god into me only because I'd imagine I'm going to have to have a conversation with somebody about it one day whilst they clutch their bong and get all learned on me: that's going to be way scarier than any secret society running the planet.

The rest of the 41 best documentary films of all time according to 17 of my Facebook friends (and in no particular disorder):

Word Wars

The Aristocrats

Pumping Iron

Spellbound

Born Rich

Grey Gardens

Life & Debt

The Great Happiness Space: Tales of an Osaka Love Thief

This Way of Life

King of Kong

Earth

Surfwise

Air Guitar Nation

Sherman's March

Waiting for Guffman

Man On Wire

The White Diamond

March of the Penguins

Microcosmos

What the Bleep do we Know?

Loose Change

The Corporation

Zeitgeist

Faces of Death

... and some music documentaries that were omitted from the earlier post, but rightfully pointed out this time around...

I am Trying to Break Your Heart

101

The Decline of Western Civilisation Part II: The Metal Years

Stepping Razor

Scratch

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

Live Forever.

So there it is. I'd like nothing more than for you to leave comments, scream for blinding omissions, tell me you saw something that made your day as a result of this list, whatever!

As a special treat I'm now going to ask my dear friend Miles, who for many years has been the cinema reporter for Radio Active, to give us his opinion. I'll post whatever he sends me back ASAP.

Thanks to everybody who took the time to give me their opinion.