Man on Wire (2008)

At this moment when documentaries have never been so popular James Marsh has directed one to blow the rest away. It’s an outstanding documentary of head-shaking proportions. Literally, if at any point in this film you can avert your eyes from the screen, all you will see is the backs of heads swiveling from one side to the other in disbelief.

It documents Frenchmen Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre. Part original footage, part reconstruction, Marsh has woven together a film of the year. "The artistic crime of the century” and described by Marsh as “a heist movie” he seems to have taken inspiration from both Morris and Mann. An unlikely combination, but one that has worked tremendously well. The speed and pace, the flashbacks, the development of the central character arc, everything is pitch perfect.

Michael Nyman is used for the bulk of the soundtrack and he doesn’t disappoint. It could be his best score since my personal favourite Gattaca. Add to this the mystique of the most surreal photographs ever seen (Petit’s crew had enough to carry to the top without a video camera adding extra weight) and you come close to understanding the poetic nature of the film.

One photo in particular stands out from the rest. Taken from ground zero looking up at one tower, in the top-left corner flying high above is an aeroplane. This of course evokes the palpable question of 9/11. Something that is always present throughout but is never alluded to further than this, a slight reminder.

It's showing at the Prince Charles Cinema this week, brought back some two months after it’s UK premiere.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad (2007)

Directors Eddy Moretti and Suroosh Alvi have produced an extraordinary film, unparalleled in its attempt and success to capture a more humanistic vision of the events surrounding the Iraq War to date.

From early 2003 to late 2006, Moretti and Alvi document the struggles of Iraq's only heavy metal band, Acrassicauda (Latin for Black Scorpion) and the ever-disintegrating environment surrounding them. From Saddam Hussein’s reign, his fall and the subsequent rise of insurgents, it’s a rollercoaster ride that is as thrilling as it is unbelievable.

Featuring a subtle commentary on the effects of globalization, we see western influences in the shape of Metallica, Slayer and Slipknot and the impact they have on Iraq’s burgeoning youth culture, so beautifully echoed in the form of Acrassicauda. These symbols of free expression are idolized by the band members, and also, they claim, the source of their English. This may explain the constant and tiresome use of expletives and the word “dude”.

Handheld camera use is prevalent throughout, an apt choice that adds aesthetically and reflects the on-stage guerilla style music at the heart of the movie. The film’s most poignant moment is near its conclusion when a “rough-cut” of select moments, some shot over three years before, are replayed to the band’s members. It’s an incredibly powerful scene, one that generates on-screen emotions that underline the mind-boggling reality of the situation.