Product: Dirty Pictures (2011)
Rating: 5.0
Live with the shulgins, love the shulgins: A calm & gentle Masterpiece
I'm shocked to learn that this lovely film has recieved a couple of prominent bad ratings on amazon. I'm not a "Shulgin Fanboy". In fact, the existence of this marvelous couple just recently entered my consciousness. This film has been the first time i really saw them walk & talk for a longer period, so consider myself rather unbiased.As a documentary filmmaker myself, i deeply appreciate the style of this movie. First of all, one has to appreciate the fact, that this is not a propaganda film" of some sorts. "Dirty pictures" does not scream & shout. It's progressing silently without failing to entertain, or to inform us about the life of the shulgins and their friends and colleagues. I simply love how the filmmaker decided to include other notable figures,and family to let them speak. Why? Because the concept of the film is such that it's not only about the shulgins themselves but also about the core of the psychedelic experience and how one can scientifically deal with the topic. The whole 90 minutes are are truly a glowing example of love and compassion and how these compounds are able to inspire lifelong bonds of partnership in various forms.The film has almost an ethnographic character, leaving a lot for the viewer to figure out. But in a way, it's ethnographicness is not a deliberate choice of style. The words Sasha an Ann speak, directly tie into the concept of the whole film - in a very crafty way.All i can say is that i thoroughly enjoyed "Dirty Pictures".Stay away if you can only accept a aggressive, highly political style of documentary filmmaking.