Ask HN: What is the most inspiring documentary film in your opinion? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What is the most inspiring documentary film in your opinion?

9 pointscurious_girl15 comments

I am curious what people on HN find fascinating, inspiring and mind-opening among non-fiction movies.

There were a few great posts about books and papers, but I did not see enough attention to movies. Some people prefer those over books.

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Jiro Dreams of Sushi. A really inspiring film about a sushi chef in Japan. His work ethic and dedication to his craft are an antidote to the ‘move fast and break things to get rich’ mentality that is all-too-common these days.

I saw this. It was pretty good.

So many, but in recent years 'Hypernormalisation' by Adam Curtis.

Curtis's style and tone and bias can grate, and is not for everyone, but in this documentary his typical format gels. It describes a bunch of seemingly disparate world events that eventually appear integrated. No one comes out a hero. It subtly reminded me to not take 'positive change' for granted and for that there is no final victory, nor final defeat. The same arguments must continue to be put forward to each generation.

I guess this boils down to what your mean by "inspiring"; let me give you some of my favorites by category:

> Movies about people doing stuff, usually investigating something - makes me want to get up and get stuff done

[1] Cold Case Hammarskjöld - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9352780/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

[2] Tickled - Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOBXuCYB4jQ

[3] Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles - Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIWpJ5Jl4fE (full movie is on Youtube, Too)

[4] The Cove - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cove_(film)

> Movies about ... the human condition, human life on earth? IDK, but if you watch the trailer, you get what I mean. WARNING: Might evoke the urge to travel

[1] Koyaanisqatsi - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisqatsi - Pruitt Igoe Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq_SpRBXRmE

[2] Samsara - Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCkEILshUyU

[3] Anthropocene - Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikMlCxzO-94 (Check out his other movie "Watermark", too!)

> Movies about the work of particular people:

[1] Playing God - Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knK4lE3tZBM

Ken Burns' Vietnam. Understanding the conflict in Indo-China is to understand America

Recently felt shook by the American Masters: Keith Haring episode. Died way too young. And that creative energy of Downtown NYC 1981 is just a memory now ;)

https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/keith-haring-docume...

The standout for me is The Crash Reel.

It’s a tremendous look at Kevin Pearce’s road to recovery after sustaining a traumatic brain injury in training for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. I’m a skier and was aware that TBIs are a bad thing, but had no idea of the spectrum of symptoms and outcomes that could be caused from them. As well as being eye-opening, the entire Pearce family are incredible in their response to his accident.

I’ve just remembered about the BBC series ‘Hospital’. I’ve not watched every episode but those I’ve seen have been profoundly impactful.

It’s a brilliant showcase of Britain’s National Health Service, showing the absolute brilliance and dedication of its staff even in the most trying of circumstances as well as sharing really moving stories from patients too.

If you can find it, episode one of the second series is incredible, focusing on the aftermath of the Westminster terror attack from 2017 and how St Mary’s responded to the gold incident.

`BBS - The Documentary' not only documents the early days of computer communications but in most cases it contains interviews with the individuals responsible for many of the important steps taken along the way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBS:_The_Documentary

This link was later posted on HN... https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2021/01/th...

Triumph of the Nerds. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Nerds

'Chasing legends' captures Mark Cavendish at his best, and how big the tour de France is

In 2020 I watched these two documentary films about animals and quite liked them:

- My Octopus Teacher

- Dancing with the Birds

Big Little Farm. Drop everything and watch it today :)

Thanks for the recommendation - looks like you meant "The Biggest Little Farm". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8969332/

For 2020 its gotta be:

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

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