Crooked Made Straight (2010)

CROOKED MADE STRAIGHT (2010) is a documentary exploring the life of an American doctor practicing in Ethiopia. The documentary is short but it packs a lot of information in a short amount of time. Out of the recent documentaries I've seen I would have to say this one kept me to most interested through out. Seeing many unfortunate medical conditions plaguing Ethiopians young and old truly was heart wrenching.



One of the main reasons as to why I was interested in the story of the film was the fact that it was primarily cinema verite type scenes. It showed him interacting with his patients. You could see his compassionate behavior in the way he dealt with them. There were interviews, but they were kept at a minimal level and did not overbear the narrative information. Additionally, the film's editing and sound design was very well done in that I did not notice any abrupt distractions from the flow of the film. The pace and transitions were very smooth throughout from beginning to end.

The primary allure to this documentary is that it is in a new environment, very different from the day to day life I experience. However, the film has little development in terms of an obvious narrative arc. It is more of a slice-of-life type documentary, which makes sense because of the length. I feel as though that the documentary still could have explored the doctor's personal struggles, etc.

Overall, the documentary was very intriguing and thought provoking due to its dealing of a new environment and by utilizing scenes of a verite style although more development in terms of personal conflict-resolution would have made the film all the more compelling.