Grass
Directed by Robert Mann.
It’s always a pleasure for me to watch a documentary that attempts to strike a balance between information and entertainment, and succeeds. And for me, Grass succeeded.
The informative aspect of the film was a chronological review of the history of marijuana use and its prohibition in the US throughout the 1900’s. It traces the first significant appearance of the drug in the country around the turn of the century with the flood of immigrant labourers from Mexico into the southern states. It follows the evolution of the drug’s place in society and the way conservative elements of American society have reacted to it. The film is notable in that it gives far less attention to the users of the drug than it does to the people who outlawed it and their propaganda.
The biggest single focus is the way the fear, uncertainty, and doom propaganda evolved with the changing American society and the changing patterns of marijuana use. In this aspect, the film is insightful and seems to take a cynical, detached attitude that one might find absent in a ‘I wanna smoke some pot you fascist’, ‘underground hippie flick’ (which Grass is certainly not). Indeed, the film is decidedly non-promarijuana, rather pro-non-criminalisation, if that makes any sense.
On the entertainment front, this film is a treat. Not rolling in the aisles material, but a steady stream of chuckles. Visually, the film is to a great exent made up of archival footage, with many gems uncovered. Aside from the inherent hilarity of much of the footage, it was pieced together with an eye for humour as well. I especially liked the way out-takes and unedited footage was often incorporated, giving a wonderful sense of context that is often missing in montages of archival footage. Woody Harrelson’s narration was pleasant and unobtrusive, and his material was well written. Also there were many nice animated computer graphics interspersed with the archival footage, providing amusement and some glue for the narrative.
In a nutshell, Grass has something for anyone interested in documentary as a film genre, social history in the US, or the devil weed itself. My only complaint is the (undenied) US-centrism of the film. I’ll give it four skulls.
Matt Lowry
