I came to this because its folded. It is consists of some unsophisticated notions about "them" corrupting food, some art about it, deliberately folded into the artifacts, a documentary about the making of that art, a profile of the artist, outside the documentary, a story of how "they" interpret the art as a murder plot and a documentary of that story.And it has Tilda Swinton whose presence usually signals something profound.But the film is too clumsy to do its work. You can roughly get the facts. Its another case of an event that becomes caught up in forces no one controls... that finds its way into film by way of combat with similar forces. Those forces come from story threads, conventions, urges that this filmmaker is as helpless to control as the protagonist.There's one interesting idea here. The character played by Tilda is the artist's wife, Hope. She is the genius of an art collaborative, who is not an artist herself in the sense of creating. She is the "explainer," who makes the collaborative work by providing the story hooks into what these guys do.The story is triggered by her death. The authorities arrive and without her storyweaving ability, put together their own conspiracy about a conspiracy. This film could have used her.This film could have been "The Lives of Others," with the Bush FBI in place of the Stasi.Still, even if the film fails it is far, far more powerful a message than Moore could put together.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Strange Culture This documentary tells the story of Steve Kurtz, an artist and professor who, during 2004, was arrested as a suspected bioterrorist. Kurtz had called the police when his wife had died of heart failure, and the police arrived to find Petri dishes of bacteria Kurtz was getting ready to use for an art installation piece. The bacteria was harmless, but the invitation to the art opening he had had Arabic on it... hence, bring out the feds. Kurtz is still up for trial, and because he was disallowed from telling his story, this film features actor re-enactments.The documentary itself is only interesting because after each actor re-enacts his part, the cameras keep going and the actors put in their own two-bits... what it's like working on a project like this, what it was like meeting some of the key players "before the ending has come", and what it is to be more personally involved in the story that is going on as we speak. I like this approach because sans actor commentary, the re-enactments felt very misleading.I disagree with the choice of music on this feature, because it is mostly of an ominous and gloomy style. I think the only way to fight "a culture of fear" is to not allow it to make you afraid as well, and this documentary worked quite hard to make its subject very potent and important by using such audio cues to keep the audience's heart-rate going. For that matter, there's a lot I disagree with this film politically, in that it seems (like so many people these day do) to underestimate the simple power of entities refusing to admit their wrong. Such underestimation is a large reason why people don't know how to deal with Bush's decisions and instead decides it must be some form of conspiracy. Sure, there is some amount of multifaceted conglomeration involved in this tragic and disturbing discourse, but it's not like Kurtz was arrested for trying to show the world the truth about the food they were eating (the conclusion this movie hints at). It more shows how inefficient and ironically arbitrary our system of justice can be when people are met with things they don't understand.I suppose it's an interesting documentary, but it's intentions are clear: it is made to make a case for Kurtz before the final decision is spoken, so that people can rally to his cause. For that, I suppose, it's a genuine article, but it also makes it quickly dated and, for another matter, easier to decry bias. Without the full effect of the narrative, what's to say what it all eventually will come to mean? Of course that's an issue many contemporary documentaries constantly contend with, but on the other hand that's why I have such a distaste for them.--PolarisDiB

This film is a must see if you care or about the arts in the current political climate, or for that matter if you care about civil liberties in general. Strange Culture is very different from Lynn Hershman's other work--a unique documentary/narrative hybrid. An amazing and surreal performance by Thomas Jay Ryan. Though there is an amazing cast, the real star is Steve Kurtz, the Buffalo artist who is the subject of the film. Steve's heartbreaking retelling of his wife's death, and his subsequent arrest and legal wranglings is must see for anyone who believes are government is beyond reproach.This film is powerful, heart wrenching, and an outrageous indictment of the current state of political affairs.

i was blown away by this movie. It is nothing you would expect. It creeps up on you. It is a truly important film, and extremely timely. The footage is remarkable and varied. It is as if the film turns itself inside out so that you are right there, inside the movie, sitting right next to the actors, who are sharing intimate moments of themselves, candidly and without guile. The identity device is brilliant, and took me by surprise, even though there were clues along the way. The way the various elements were handled, from the comic strips to re enactments to interviews were skillful and well crafted. This is one of the the films that can make a difference because it brings an awareness of the repercussions of policies to a human level. I highly recommend this film.