MicroCinema Scene

A close-knit but poor community disappears virtually overnight, paving the way for Dodgers Stadium.  How this happens is at the crux of Jordan Mechner’s heartfelt short documentary Chavez Ravine:  A Los Angeles Story.

Mechner paints a fully-realized picture of the poverty-stricken but seemingly idyllic life of the largely Mexican-American population in this area on the outskirts of L.A.  He finds former residents, some fifty years later, and interviews them about their lives at that time; as well as their reactions to what happened, which range from philosophical to furious.  Intertwined in this oral history are excellent photos and other historic footage of that era, casting the event in the light of other contemporary issues, including the “Red Scare” and America’s Pastime, baseball.

The short is well-shot and sharply edited, and Mechner manages to keep a light touch throughout; surprising, considering that parallels could fairly easily be drawn between the disappearance of homes in Chavez Ravine in the 50s and Jewish villages in Eastern Europe in the 40s.  But it’s Mechner’s sense of people and place, more than moral outrage, that makes his work compelling.

Chavez Ravine:  A Los Angeles Story is a worthy documentary about a little-known event in U.S. history.

Three stars.

2,000 Miles to Maine is an interesting look at hiking the Appalachian Trail, focusing more on the unusual characters and their myriad motivations rather than the technical elements of what it would take to go on a 2,000 mile walk that generally takes six months to complete.

The filmmakers focus on Chad, a young man who seems ready to quit after just a few short days but somehow manages to go the entire distance despite bad weather, loneliness, and lack of creature comforts.  But we meet dozens of characters along the way, “thru hikers” who plan to do the entire trail as a spiritual or emotional journey as well as “section hikers” who have often spent years finishing pieces at a time.  There are lots of offbeat slices of life, including some happy-go-lucky stoners, a guy who gets stuck with somebody else’s incredibly aggressive dog, a couple in their 70s who have been trying to finish the trail for three decades, and more.

We learn early on that the majority of those who try to hike the whole of the Appalachian Trail only last a few days, which makes all of the characters–their stories and their reasons for hiking–more compelling, and worth staying through to the end to see what happens to everyone we meet on the trail.

The production values—shooting, editing, map graphics—are never more than workmanlike, but the storytelling is what carries 2,000 Miles to Maine.  The documentary will especially appeal to outdoors enthusiasts, but has some compelling insights into the human experience as well.