Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The_Boxing_Cat Jealous greedy filmmaker who wants to say that tobacco is killing everyone in North Carolina. However, I cannot help but feel that if his grandfather had succeeded with his tobacco endeavors, he would be saying how wonderful the tobacco industry is. He claims a movie staring Gary Cooper is about his Great grandfather and how he was cheated by a more powerful tobacco man. It's more likely his great grandfather was just a terrible businessman. Pathetic whiner who is ungrateful and RUDE! He makes fun of his subjects and seems to have a "Jesus complex". Terrible film, I want to be clear- this is not a documentary, just a one sided indulgent story of a wannabe filmmaker.

framptonhollis "Bright Leaves" is one of the absolute greatest documentary films of all time. It has made it to my top 10 favorite films list because of how much it, simply, amazed me!The film revolves around the tobacco industry, the film industry, the McElwee family history, and many interesting characters we meet throughout the film. These characters have many interesting stories to tell, whether they're tragic or funny.There's McElwee's film expert cousin, his hard to connect with 12 year old son, a couple trying to quit their smoking habits, and so on. These characters (I know they're real people, I'll call them characters anyway) are really what makes "Bright Leaves" so special, along with the, at times quite clever and funny, narration by the filmmaker, and the greatly interesting, highly personal presentation of it all.Going into it, I expected this to be more of a pro-tobacco industry film, however, the film really does show the true negativity that smoking causes. We see the bad affects it has on health and the troubling process of trying to quit.For those looking for a BBC-style documentary on the history of the tobacco industry, will not find much enjoyment here. However, if you like McElwee's style and would enjoy a quirky, funny, and, sometimes, almost heartbreaking, portrait of the McElwee family history, you should definitely check this one out! It's absolutely spectacular (and highly underrated) documentary film!

Camera Obscura I loved McElwee's unique documentary odyssey SHERMAN'S MARCH (1986), so I was curious about his other work. This time he follows the trail of his great-grandfather, who was in the tobacco business. McElwee's family legend has it that the Hollywood melodrama BRIGHT LEAF(1950) by Michael Curtiz, starring Gary Cooper as a 19th century tobacco grower is based on filmmaker Ross McElwee's great-grandfather, who created the Bull Durham brand. Using this legacy as a jumping off point, McElwee reaches back to his roots in this wry, witty rumination on the history of American tobacco and the myth of cinema.Easily the funniest moment in the film is when noted (and dreaded) film theorist, and historian Vladar Petric, assaults the poor McElwee, while he's being driven round the block in a wheelchair. Long live the dreaded Vladar Petric!Not a complete success; sometimes McElwee's odyssey becomes dreary when he tracks down some his father's patients, who was a doctor and treated many tobacco-related illnesses. His reflections on family and the relationship with his son are somewhat self-indulgent at times, but definitely has its moments with an honest look at The South, Hollywood and his family's relation with tobacco.Camera Obscura --- 7/10

holly500 While it is still a personal documentary from McElwee, the master of the form, "Bright Leaves" is a film that speaks far beyond the personal. As McElwee films across the south, it seems everyone-- smoker or nonsmoker-- has a relationship with tobacco. The most amazing thing about the film is the filmmaker's even handedness and understanding for the pull that cigarette smoking has on his subjects, even though the filmmaker himself has never had a tobacco habit to peak of. Given Michael Moore's work and other popular documentaries of the day, the expectation is that "Bright Leaves" would have a stern and condemning view of the tobacco industry. On the contrary, he gives humorous insight on the age-old habit. McElwee's writing, as found in his narration, is incredibly poetic as it rolls along the blue hills of North Carolina. Even weeks later, I think of that last sequence of shots, the tanker of tobacco heading off to far lands, the shots of his son, and understand why I myself, like so many, have this attraction to smoking, or what McElwee calls the urge to give pause to time, and likens to his own filmmaking and photography.The most how genius moment features Vlada Petric, and McElwee's long standing side character, Charlene, is still a gift. The film really does stick with you for a long, long time, and deserves lots of exposure and great distribution.