Customer Reviews

Commune

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What do you do when you become convinced that your country is unchangeably repressive and that efforts at reform at best tinker around the edges of it? For thousands of people in the 1960s, the answer was to build alternative communities--"communes," as they were called then, "intentional communities," as they're called today. One of the longest-lasting of these 1960s-era communities, Black Bear Ranch, is explored by director Jonathan Berman in his fascinating "Commune."

Founded in 1968 on 80 secluded acres in northern California, Black Bear is still up and running, although with a different generation of residents. Berman tracks the commune from its early days through the present with generous interviews of some of its founders, many of whom--actor Peter Coyote, Osha Neumann, Herbert Marcuse's stepson--have since "gone respectable."

One of the best features of Berman's film is its balance. Like all communities, Black Bear had its ups and downs--youthful idealism and youthful naivete, sexual freedom and sexual jealousy, tolerant earnestness and dogmatic zealotry--and Berman goes to some pains to make sure that his audience is exposed to both. His interviews with the commune's residents also reveals, without hitting the viewer over the head, that communal living can bring out the best as well as the worst in individual personalities.

One of the more touching interviews in the film was with the dying Richard Marley, co-founder of Black Bear. Marley's transformation during his years at the commune, from a rather authoritarian type to one who gradually learned to embrace "open-heartedness"--is one of the individual success stories from the experiment, and in many ways it symbolizes the general transformation the community went through (one of the most obvious of these is the change of attitude towards women as equal partners).

Black Bear's motto from the very beginning was "Free Land for Free People." There are hazards, of course, when one embraces freedom, but there are also great possibilities. Berman's "Commune" is a testament to both. But it would've been good to hear a bit more than Berman delivers about the nature of the alternative society that Black Bear residents hoped to build--their values, their hopes, their vision.

Commune is a nostalgic look at the Black Bear commune that began in northern California in 1968. The members of the commune raised the money to buy the land by asking the members of various rock groups for money. Now in late middle age, the former Black Bear residents reflect on the happenings at the commune and what it meant to their lives.

There is a lot of human interest in the film and it provides a nice look at a bygone era. The former Black Bear residents comment on the struggles and personality clashes that inevitably arose as they attempted to live on the land. There is lots of film of hairy people running around nude in the woods. The film also includes interviews with some of the commune's mystified neighbors, who, unsurprisingly, still don't seem to understand the hippies.

Unfortunately, Commune leaves a lot of unanswered questions. We see the former Black Bear members living their largely-conventional lives, but we hear very little about why each person decided to leave Black Bear. Commune generally recounts the stories of the Black Bear residents "back in the day" and then "fast forwards" to the present. The intervening parts of their lives are largely missing.

Most viewers probably will disapprove of the decisions that the Black Bear residents made regarding their children. We learn that a "child worshiping" cult named Shiva Lila moved into the commune in the 1970s. Eventually, Shiva Lila was expelled from the commune. When Shiva Lila left, some of the Black Bear children went with them, even though the parents stayed behind. One can see that the kids of the Black Bear hippies still struggle to understand their experiences at the commune.

For those interested in the 1960s, Commune is worth a look.

Here's a story of a real hippie commune in northern California. Full of vintage film showing hairy people cavorting in the wilderness. Nice, if painful, contrasts with the same characters today, looking tired and old, but still spouting the old hippie phraseology. They went back to the land. You should step back in time and watch this documentary.

This is a strong and thoughtful documentary with footage from the early days of Black Bear Ranch commune and voices from those who lived it today. Don't miss it. It's a mindful project that has me questioning why we've forgotten the lessons and vision of the past...when things were on the edge of real change.

There are so many stereotypes of "hippie communes"--both positive and negative--it was great to see how one actually operated. In short, I loved that this seemed honest, in particular, the parts on experiments in "free love" were, overall, pretty disastrous. nonetheless, relationships that came out of the commune, and survived that experiment, were impressive and moving.

I was moved by the journeys of these people and grew to care about them through this excellent documentary. You owe it to yourself to see this version of the '60's rather than the one you've been sold in mainstream television. I highly recommend this documentary and own it myself.

Actor and former 60s activist Peter Coyote, narrates this documentary about the Black Bear commune. Black Bear is located in the rugged rural environment, of Northern California. During the 60s and early 70s, several hippies got funding from Hollywood celebrities (including actor James Coburn), to finance the creation of the Black Bear commune. Back then, Hollywood types thought it was chic to become involved with the counterculture.

Those who were members of Black Bear, gave honest accounts of the joys, and also the very real problems, of living in a commune. Their devotion to their progressive ideals, inspired them to make a go at forming Black Bear. Keeping the commune together though, ultimately proved more difficult than they expected. They had to contend with serious issues regarding basic survival, sharing childrearing responsibilities, and how best to express their sexuality, without causing jealousy and alienation amongst themselves. Members came and went to Black Bear over the years. Despite all of the upheaval and changes, the Black Bear commune still exists now. That's pretty amazing. Especially considering how unsympathetic society has become these days, to the hippie values that spawned the Black Bear commune.

This film takes a look back, at when hippies were the avant guard of progressive politics in society. It sheds light on an important era in American history, that many people would like to know more about. So Commune is a very relevant documentary, for those that have an interest in the socio-political changes, that occurred during the 60s and early 70s.

The documentary is best for students in psychology/sociology. I liked how these voluntary, societal outcasts come back into the U.S. economy as contributive and active members of society (you get to see the in epilogue of who is now doing what).

After watching the movie, I agree with a statement made in the documentary that the commune was a place to grow up and learn. It was comforting to know that even when people leave U.S. way of life, they would eventually return as law abiding citizens-- most of the time.

The itty-bitty part about the Family International coming in and getting kicked out was really interesting. I found that fascinating at how a predatory/parasitic group sustains itself by brain-washing susceptible, unprotected, unsupervised children.

I give it three stars because it is kind of slow with the same footage shown several times in the movie but with a different speaker discussing different subject matter.

This movie was produced fairly recently, in 2005, and surprisingly has NO CLOSED CAPTIONS. It may be informative or silly, uplifting or depressing, illuminating or infuriating-but I'll never know. The producers decided that I and millions of deaf/hearing impaired people like me dont need to see their movie.

There is no excuse for not equipping any movie or show with closed captions. NONE. There oughta be a law.