Publication Date: Friday, January 09, 2004

by Susan Tavernetti

Filmgoers have always flocked to movies about the birds and the bees. But who would have guessed audiences would line up to see "Winged Migration" and "Spellbound" with all the enthusiasm usually reserved for sexier subject matter? Barnacle geese and the National Spelling Bee attracted enough viewers to prove that documentaries aren't just for film festivals anymore.

Arnold, Elaine and their three boys Jesse, David and Seth at David's bar mitzvah in Capturing the Friedmans.

Love it or hate it, Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" changed the public's perception of nonfiction film. Blame the rumpled rabble-rouser for misrepresenting some of the "facts" in last year's Best Documentary Oscar winner, but don't accuse him -- or his film -- of being boring. The "must-see" buzz resulted in boffo box-office figures of more than $20 million, an unprecedented gross for a documentary. Profits always grab the attention of film distributors and exhibitors, encouraging them to try their hand at repeating the success.

Lucky for us. Despite the popularity and king-sized numbers chocked up by the last installment of "Lord of the Rings," most of Hollywood's mainstream 2003 releases proved as disappointing as lumps of coal in a Christmas stocking.

Documentaries came in all shapes and sizes -- from James Cameron's titanic IMAX 3-D release of "Ghosts of the Abyss" to Lauren Lazin's "Tupac: Resurrection," an intimate look at the life of the murdered hip-hop artist told entirely through his own voice-over narration, "Sunset Boulevard" style. Jacques Perrin's "Winged Migration" offered unparalleled visual beauty and natural wonder, while Jeffrey Blitz's "Spellbound" had as much edge-of-your-seat suspense as Hitchcock's thriller of the same title. According to Nielsen EDI, which tracks ticket sales, all these nonfiction films broke the box-office $6 million mark and outperformed such expensive star-driven drivel as "Gigli."

Stunning breakaways from the festival circuit that enjoyed Bay Area theatrical runs included Andrew Jarecki's "Capturing the Friedmans," a portrait of a suburban family unraveling under allegations of pedophilia, and Sam Green and Bill Siegel's "The Weather Underground," which chronicled the radical 1960's organization. Political and social eye-openers arrived in the form of Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain's fly-on-the-wall witness to history and media manipulation, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," and Jose Padilha's "Bus 174," a nail-biter about a tragic Rio bus hijacking that also exposed the heartrending inequities of Brazilian society. Tom Peosay's "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion" took a more traditional approach in its compassionate, informative look at the plight of modern Tibet.

Don't kick yourself if you blinked and missed these releases on the big screen. They have an afterlife on PBS or cable television networks, or on VHS or DVD. Up next is Errol Morris' highly anticipated "The Fog of War," which puts former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara and American foreign policy under the scrutinizing eye of the camera.

Some of the 2003 documentaries are stranger than fiction. But all of them are as entertaining as anything Hollywood has to offer.