Documentary Pick: Birth of the Living Dead (2013)
All this zombie stuff – the millions made at the box office, the tons of books sold, the record-breaking TV audiences that tune in weekly – can all be traced back to one unlikely hit movie made by a rag-tag crew in Pittsburgh called Night of the Living Dead. The now ubiquitous nature of the zombie subgenre sort of belies the fact that nearly 50 years ago this monster, as we know it today, didn’t exist. But the cast and crew of Living Dead didn’t realize they were making something special, they were just trying to make a movie, the chronicle of which forms the basis of Birth of the Living Dead.
Filmmaker Rob Kuhns covers the inception, filming and release of Night of the Living Dead through interviews with its director George A. Romero, and opens up the movie’s broader cultural context in discussions with people like Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd, and film critic/commentators Elvis Mitchell and Mark Harris. To those film buffs shrewd enough to already have dissected Night on their own time, there might not be much here that’s new to you. For casual fans, or anyone who enjoys zombies and has yet to enjoy its root cultural ancestor though, this may be intriguing\. Kuhns certainly exhibits a lot of passion for the subject, and the film moves you through various plot points and topics of interest quite breezily.
In fact, this documentary packs a lot into its 80 minute running time. From the unintentional socio-political commentary of the film, to the accidental breaking of the color barrier when serious actor Duane Jones was cast as the film’s lead and the script wasn’t changed to reflect the fact that its hero Ben was now African-American. The commentary is mostly insightful, and as an introductory text to the importance of Night of the Living Dead on film and culture, it more than gets the job done. I would have liked to have seen a few more people involved in the original film interviewed, but Romero is more than entertaining enough on his own.
For optimum viewing, the original Night followed by Birth of the Living Dead would make a great double feature.
