The Nine Lives of Marion Barry

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Cindee P @Cindee781 Mar 7 Good movie. Learned some things I was unaware of about this man. Like masters in organic chemistry and was unaware he was working on doctorate before joining the civil rights movement. It's sad that he could not withstand the personal drug affliction. If only Merrick Garland could have put 1/100th of the time ,effort and expense in taking down Trump (a threat to the planet) as he put in a sting operation to take down a man who only harmed himself we would all be better off today. See more Emmett O @RT02060910 May 26 Great movie, well paced and captivating from start to finish. Stranger than fiction! See more Patrick 04/25/2023 As someone from Washington D.C. who has loved movies and TV from a young age. I have loved movies that I can relate to and use to see other people's perspectives. I have lived in many different neighborhoods in DC, Capitol Hill, Shaw, 14th Street, and Georgetown, and I'm constantly going to stores and landmarks in other neighborhoods in the city. I've gone to different public and private schools causing me to see wealthy, and financially challenged people and how both communities live and function. The Nine Lives of Marion Barry is a movie about someone who tries to govern a part of DC that was crime-ridden and not financially stable. We are able to closely examine his rise to fame, his hardships, and the views on him coming from citizens and opposing candidates. The movie documents Barry from when he started as a civil rights activist, who accomplished many great things for the black community, like the PRIDE campaign, an employment program made to help out of work ex-convicts get a job. The documentary shows us how he took a turn from activism into politics, starting off as a member of the DC school board, but then promoting himself to a candidate for the DC city council. The documentary shows how he appeals to the people, stands out from the crowd, and politically combats other candidates. They go on to thoroughly examine how he acts every time that he was in office. They closely examine his personal life as well, with found footage, and archived sources they are able to show accurate information, and depictions, rather than most documentaries which are filled with narrations, reenactments, and interviews. But the documentary was not lacking in interviews, they had a few and used them to talk about Barry, and also the state of the city, something that the documentary was good at accurately portraying. The director was able to give us a surprising plot twist when it was revealed that Barry was a liar who was living a life of sin, in which he cheated on his wife, and did many different drugs. They show videos and images of him kissing and hugging women, they even included a video that the FBI used when they busted him smoking crack with a woman that Barry had plans to have sex with. While the filmmaker shows his ethics and political life deteriorating, they are also able to show the same thing happening with his personal life and the loved ones around him. The director showed how his mental state and reputation was quickly deteriorating, but he gave us hope when he quickly skipped forward to when he was running again in 2008. They interviewed many people from the area and were good at showing how he was able to regain support. In conclusion, The Nine Lives of Marion Barry is a great documentary. For its good directing, image and video choice, and storytelling. It is a very thought-provoking documentary for the reason that it talks about the multiple lives of a controversial politician who was elected, outcasted, and forgiven. The director thoroughly examines how the city was a drug-ridden place full of crime and poverty and how Mayoral Barry tried to combat them, but ended up falling into a lot of the traps that the very citizens of DC fell into. See more 09/03/2013 Super bad. I mean BAD. See more 01/24/2012 Its still unfathomable after all these years peoples trust that they have in this guy. Oh well, hes not my mayor. See more 12/25/2011 An even-handed, though highly abbreviated (only 78 mins) take on the saga that has long defined politics in the District. The film is sequenced very well, providing ample context for the rise of Barry while visibly demonstrating the man's physical and cognitive decline. What it does fail to do is to detail in specifics any element of both Barry's actions in office and that of his subsequent trial and return to office. The looks inside the modern Ward 8 election cycle and Barry's electorate are compelling, but this film falls far short of definitive, seemingly content to use the equivalent of news feature footage and to highlight the general story of the saga. Still essential viewing for the many new residents of the District Metroplex that know nothing of the city's politics and past history. See more Read all reviews

The Nine Lives of Marion Barry

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