Let me start by saying any doco or movie that aims to illustrate the endemic inequality in the US is to be applauded. '13th' is no exception. It contains a lot of information that should open the eyes of many. Having said that, it is not a great documentary.
My first objection is the music. While the songs used intermittently were effective, the score throughout was beyond heavy handed and distracting. The music was in direct competition with the people speaking and I, at least, found it difficult to follow along. It just never stopped and played throughout the movie. It was also unnecessarily emotive. I mean, the subject matter alone was pretty emotionally heavy, I didn't need any musical cues about how to feel. The other more technical complaint i have is that visually, it was a bit lacking. We see lots of talking heads from different angles, jumping from one person to the next quite rapidly. The occasional break to newspaper article was beyond welcome. There were still pics and such now and then, but not enough to switch it up. More graphic illustrations would have helped.
As for the most important part -- the information -- it could have been more balanced and meatier. I'm not saying the info was not true (definitely not!) but there could have been more statistics and facts to back up the points. For example, there are the shocking numbers on the rise for incarcerations. Great, very effective, but why not simultaneously show the stats for whites, hispanics, etc. Compare the percentages. There were some other moments where I really wanted them to give more information to better paint the time and place, or give a better perspective. I could have done with fewer people 'teaching' me and repeating a lot of the same things.
I would still recommend this movie to just about anyone. It was worthwhile, but just did not deserve all the praise it received as a documentary. 6.5/10
My first objection is the music. While the songs used intermittently were effective, the score throughout was beyond heavy handed and distracting. The music was in direct competition with the people speaking and I, at least, found it difficult to follow along. It just never stopped and played throughout the movie. It was also unnecessarily emotive. I mean, the subject matter alone was pretty emotionally heavy, I didn't need any musical cues about how to feel. The other more technical complaint i have is that visually, it was a bit lacking. We see lots of talking heads from different angles, jumping from one person to the next quite rapidly. The occasional break to newspaper article was beyond welcome. There were still pics and such now and then, but not enough to switch it up. More graphic illustrations would have helped.
As for the most important part -- the information -- it could have been more balanced and meatier. I'm not saying the info was not true (definitely not!) but there could have been more statistics and facts to back up the points. For example, there are the shocking numbers on the rise for incarcerations. Great, very effective, but why not simultaneously show the stats for whites, hispanics, etc. Compare the percentages. There were some other moments where I really wanted them to give more information to better paint the time and place, or give a better perspective. I could have done with fewer people 'teaching' me and repeating a lot of the same things.
I would still recommend this movie to just about anyone. It was worthwhile, but just did not deserve all the praise it received as a documentary. 6.5/10