Change Your Image
billybudd57
Reviews
The Truth About Jim (2024)
Commendable, Riveting, Well Done Documentary
I found this documentary well done and fascinating on many levels. Firstly, how can one not admire and commend Sierra for her desire to discover the whole "truth" about her step-grandfather? There are facts recounted by those who lived through them that are absolutely the known truth about him. Knowing such things make it entirely plausible for this brave girl to want to know if Jim Mordecai could be the. Santa Rosa killer. She is not going out on a limb to pursue this possibility. She is doing what we would call any detective derelict in his duty if he didn't do. She is prepared for it to go one way or another, but her search has helped her gain some closure in her life, and helped to bring her family closer together. No, the case has not been definitively solved. But she has given the police a solid lead that they have to look into. I really have a hard time hearing all these reviews trash this documentary. It is no waste of time. It is the terrifying testimony of those who have lived with an oppressive individual who made their lives hellish. He is someone who is totally capable of rape and murder. They all knew it, because they lived with him. Bravo, Sierra for your exemplary documentary. May you and your family, through God's help, continue to heal from the traumas of your past.
A Family Affair (2015)
Quest to be known
I was deeply touched by this film. As he explains to his grandmother in the beginning, it it the grandson's desire was to get beyond appearances. You can see that such an idea does not appeal to her. But he is persistent and she eventually opens up to him. She then goes from being the obnoxious, narcissistic "villain" of the film to a more human, sympathetic character herself. This does not mean she "changes overnight," but it does reveal that she also has a desire to be known in a deeper way than she knows she has been characterized by her family. What is the common thread in the lives of all here is a desire to be known. The father expresses this need clearly, and mourns the loss of what could have been between himself and his mother. At the end of the film, Tom, the filmmaker/grandson, is taken aback by his grandmother's failure to grasp his love for his girlfriend, who she sees as her rival. She sees him for who she wants him to be for her. Perhaps, the most poignant moment of the film is when the uncle, Rene, (who up until this time has appeared as a simpleton) reveals the depth of his own feelings in a profound take on life itself. Later, there is one last heartbreaking "meeting" between Rene and his mother where they cannot and do not connect. The words of Rob, the father, spoken through his tears, rings true as he realizes how much can be "missed" in our relationships with each because of the need to hide those aspects of our life that cause us shame. All around this is a deeply personal and compassionate film. My appreciation to Tom for an exceptionally well made film that chronicles his family history, not in a comprehensive manner, but in a way that speaks universally to us all. I pray that the prophetic words of your grandmother are coming true in your life and you are living it differently than she did.