Oh good! You found us.
We're an on-demand movie theater where you can discover hand-picked films from festivals and collections around
the world. We make it easy for you to find films you'll love, no matter what your interests are.
"...an intriguing mystery that plays with history. A documentary that takes a case and explores it through strange characters and dynamic structure." - David Gordon Green
In April 1989, a body floats down the Colorado River with a bullet wound in the back of its head. That body is John H. Jenkins, rare book and historical document dealer. He had been at the epicenter of one of the largest document-forgery scandals in Texas history and his death (legally ruled suicide) is the start of a journey deep upriver into that exotic kingdom known as the past. THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY is an essay about forged historical documents, murder and scenic time travel (not necessarily in that order).
GENRES
Related Films
-
Blank City
BLANK CITY is an "absorbing snapshot of a daring time" (Los Angeles Times) when a disparate crew of renegade filmmakers emerged from an economically bankrupt and dangerous moment in New York history. From the late 1970s through the mid-'80s, when the East Village was still a wasteland of cheap rent and cheap drugs, these...Start your free trial to watch
-
Monte Cassino: The Road to Rome
The story of the Battle of Monte Cassino where, in 1944, the Allies tried to break through the German lines to reach Rome. It was the bloodiest battle of the war in the West and its story is told by men who fought in the American, British and Polish divisions that stormed the rugged Italian mountains to...Start your free trial to watch
-
Chekhov for Children
CHEKHOV FOR CHILDREN tells the inspiring story of an ambitious undertaking: the 1979 staging on Broadway of "Uncle Vanya" by New York City 5th and 6th graders, directed by the celebrated writer Phillip Lopate. Using a wealth of never-before-screened student documentary videos and dramatic super 8mm films...Start your free trial to watch
Reviews
(see the best reviews)Join the conversation. Log in or subscribe to write a review!
Wow - fantastic. Watch This Film. This is a film with the structural rigor of James Benning coupled with the exploratory nature of a Chris Marker video essay. It is not about an unsolved death, it is about the very nature of the unknown itself and uses forged documents as a way to meditate on forgotten and future times, spaces and relationships. If I want something spoon-fed to me, I'll take steak and potatoes, and if I want a true crime story, I'll watch TV. This movie, on the other hand, delivers in the best possible way.
The doubly exotic world of Texana and its colorful collectors is enticing, and the new footage is prettily shot. But not only are the facts of the case presented in a haphazard and difficult-to-follow way, the narration is sometimes snotty and sometimes pretentious, leaving the viewer in doubt as to whether there is any real value here.
Potentially fascinating mystery with only-in-Texas characters and subtext. Arch and pretentious narration mars this documentary experience for the viewer.