Saturday 21 February 2015

The 5th Hall Of Fame Inductee Representing Documentary Film - Some Kind Of Monster (2004) - Joe Berlinger/Bruce Sinofsky



Among my interests outside of movies is music, and Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Some Kind Of Monster is a marriage of those two. Most famous for their 1994 documentary on the West Memphis Three, Paradise Lost (which Metallica gave permission for their music to be used, previously unheard of for the group), Berlinger and Sinofsky were granted unprecedented access to the band, and what follows is a no-holds-barred documentary. Unfolding with the scope of a truly cinematic epic, it’s an honest look at a band in turmoil, acrimonious differences, existential crises, addiction, attempting to keep a semblance of sanity amidst the tumultuous process of recording their album St. Anger. In a different context, scenes such as the sit-down between former guitarist Dave Mustaine and Lars Ulrich, or the ‘power struggles’ between Ulrich and James Hetfield, himself battling alcoholism at the time of filming, could have been cast upon the stage as an almost Shakespearean play. It’s a testament to one of the more fascinating sagas in recent music history.



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