The fourth Chicago International Documentary Festival runs Friday, March 30, through Sunday, April 8, with screenings at the Beverly Arts Center; Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division; Facets Cinematheque; Harold Washington Library Center; Portage; Society for Arts, 1112 N. Milwaukee; Univ. of Chicago Doc Films; and Wilmette. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $9, $7 for seniors and students, and $7 for shows before 2 PM or after 10 PM. Passes are available for $250 (all screenings), $125 (20 screenings), and $70 (10 screenings), but only the first includes admission to the opening- and closing-night galas; for more information call 773-486-9612. Following are selected films through April 5; for a complete schedule visit chicagodoc
Basic Training Frederick Wiseman’s fine black-and-white documentary (1971) follows a group of army draftees through eight weeks of basic training at Fort Polk, Kentucky, in the summer of 1970. It’s notable for Wiseman’s careful observation of the process and his fleet, economical editing; beneath its prosaic surfaces roil the issues of racism and the ongoing debacle in Vietnam. 89 min. (JJ) a Thu 4/5, 9 PM, Facets Cinematheque.
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Dale NASCAR fans are the target audience for this documentary about racer Dale Earnhardt, though it makes a sturdy primer for the uninitiated. Directors Rory Karpf and Mike Viney trace Earnhardt’s life from his hardscrabble childhood in North Carolina (where his father escaped the local cotton mill to become a legendary short-track racer), to his formative years as a grimly determined, somewhat reckless young driver and his 2001 death during the Daytona 500. Earnhardt became a working-class hero and a devoted family man, but unfortunately Karpf and Viney only allude to the darker aspects of his character that helped forge his success. 100 min. (JK) a Sun 4/1, 9 PM, Chopin Theatre; also Wed 4/4, 7 PM, Beverly Arts Center.
Have You Seen Andy? Two decades after her childhood friend, Andy Puglisi, vanished from a public pool in Lawrence, Massachusetts, documentary maker Melanie Perkins delved back into the unsolved case, looking for new clues. The intensive weeklong search that followed Puglisi’s disappearance in 1976 turned up little evidence, though most signs pointed to abduction. Perkins narrows the list of possible suspects, but a clear resolution proves maddeningly elusive. This 2006 documentary does a fine job of showing how the incident affected Puglisi’s family, friends, and working-class community, but Perkins’s presentation of her own investigation is sketchy. 79 min. (Reece Pendleton) a Sat 3/31, 5 PM, and Mon 4/2, 9 PM, Chopin Theatre.
A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar … Too slick and sound-bitey for its own good, this documentary about U.S. lawyers aims for the smart-aleck tone of its title while throwing out punchy statistics as if it were a PowerPoint presentation. Director Eric Chaikin interviews many of the usual suspects (like the ubiquitous Alan Dershowitz) and several wannabes preparing for the California bar exam. But apart from learning that the U.S. has about 800,000 lawyers (reportedly four times as many as the rest of the world combined), I didn’t emerge from this feeling any wiser about the subject, and the strident efforts to entertain, including a few animation segments, only made the experience more wearying. 89 min. (JR) a Sun 4/1, 1 PM, Chopin Theatre; also Wed 4/4, 4 PM, Wilmette.
The Store The store in question is Neiman Marcus’s flagship (and corporate headquarters) in Dallas, and as with many of Frederick Wiseman’s documentaries scrutinizing American institutions, this 1983 feature provides a kaleidoscopic look at day-to-day operations, in this case during the Christmas shopping season and on the eve of the store’s 75th anniversary. Wiseman eavesdrops on jewelry sales, fashion shows, strategic meetings, training sessions, job interviews, photo shoots, and other protracted activities; company bigwig Stanley Marcus gets flattering attention, and Lady Bird Johnson makes a cameo appearance. The pursuit of consumerist pleasure has seldom been so glorified or so tedious–this sociological record is best saved for a time capsule. 118 min. (TS) a Wed 4/4, 8:30 PM, Facets Cinematheque.
