Going Clear: The Prison of Belief

Movies to See Right Now

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'71
’71

We’ve suddenly got some great movie choices again, and there’s something for everyone:

  • If you haven’t seen it yet, run out and watch the hilariously dark Argentine comedy Wild Tales, a series of individual stories about revenge fantasies becoming actualized.
  • The harrowing thriller ’71 is exhilarating.
  • Going Clear: The Prison of Belief, documentarian Alex Gibney’s devastating expose of Scientology is playing frequently on HBO;
  • I also really like the Belgian romance Three Hearts – the leading man has a weak heart in more ways than one.
  • If you’re looking for a scare, try the inventive and non-gory horror gem It Follows.
  • The music doc The Wrecking Crew is for those with an interest in music of the 1960s. It’s both in theaters and streaming on Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

Insurgent, from the Divergent franchise is what it is – young adult sci-fi with some cool f/x. The romance 5 to 7 did NOT work for me, but I know smart women who enjoyed it.

My DVD/Stream of the Week is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Genius – The Theory of Everything, a compelling story with two fine performances. It’s available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play and Xbox Video.

On April 4, Turner Classic Movies is presenting Laura, perhaps my favorite thriller from the noir era, with an unforgettable performance by Clifton Webb as a megalomaniac with one vulnerability – the dazzling beauty of Gene Tierney. The musical theme is unforgettable, too.

If you’re gonna watch a biblical epic for Easter, I say go for the most over-the-top paragon of the sword-and-sandal genre, Barabbas, showing April 5 on TCM.   Legendary and flamboyant producer Dino De Laurentiis turned out all the stops, including a battle of gladiators in a movie studio re-creation of the arena.  But that’s not all!  Anthony Quinn becomes enslaved in a sulphur mine, survives an earthquake and battles as a gladiator.  Along the way, he stops in at The Resurrection, the Burning of Rome and a mass crucifixion (filmed during a REAL ECLIPSE of the sun).  Need I mention that there is a cast of thousands?

On April 6, TCM presents another overlooked film noir, His Kind of Woman with Robert Mitchum  and Jane Russell.  I’ll be writing about it tomorrow.

BARABBAS
BARABBAS

 

GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF: a devastating expose

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GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF
GOING CLEAR: THE PRISON OF BELIEF

HBO is airing Going Clear: The Prison of Belief, documentarian Alex Gibney’s devastating expose of Scientology.  The indictment of Scientology as dangerous cult is stunning.  Gibney is sunshining an amazingly rich reservoir of source material: we hear from several  former Scientologists, including the former chief spokesperson, the former top deputy to the Chairman of the Board, along with former believer director Paul Haggis and the John Travolta’s original Scientology handler.

Gibney begins by tracing the journey of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard and reviewing the organization’s history.  Now I knew about the science fiction writer Hubbard, his book Dianetics and even the E-meter.  But I sure didn’t know about the Sea Org with its billion-year employment contracts, the Scientology Navy and the bizarro theology with invisible Thetans, volcanos and H-bombs.  Nor had I seen the North Korea-style cult-of-personality spectacles featuring Chairman of the Board David McCavige.  And I hadn’t heard about the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

Then come the really scary stuff.  We hear from former Scientology officials who testify that they have been incarcerated in the Rehabilitation Project Force –  a concentration camp on a top floor of the Scientology’s Los Angeles HQ and in what is essentially a prison camp in Florida to “re-educate” suspected heretics and backsliders.  And there is testimony about the prisoners being separated from their children, who are shunted off to Cadet Org.  One official offers personal testimony of his assignment to break up Nicole Kidman’s marriage to Tom Cruise and to alienate her children from her.  It’s horrifying stuff.  And it’s a riveting viewing experience.

Alex Gibney is one our very, very best documentarians.  He won an Oscar for Taxi to the Dark Side, and he made the superb Casino Jack: The United States of Money, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer and Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God.  (He can’t seem to pass up a really long movie title – but Going Clear etc., came from a book title.)

If you’re asking “How can smart, able people fall into this stuff?”, then I recommend finding a film that I reviewed at Cinequest 2015 – The Center.  Upon its release, The Center should become the perfect narrative fiction companion to Going Clear.