Documentaries in Bloom: Paradise

Michael Almereyda, 2009, 122 min.

"Michael Almereyda’s Paradise is essentially a series of home movies, but home movies of a very high order. Resembling a Chris Markerfilm essay without the narration, the rigorous structure and the intellectual jokes, “Paradise” comprises 44 discrete scenes. They were culled from digital video footage Mr. Almereyda shot over the course of 10 years during which he nearly always carried a camera with him. Aside from music at the beginning and end, only ambient sounds and voices are heard. Although it lacks most of the usual devices that indicate a director’s point of view, it’s hard to imagine a more personal film."- Mike Hale, The New York Times