- Producers: Adam Curtis
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Run Time: 180 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 1615777318
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 18,576 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Part 1. Love and Power. Curtis tracks the effects of Ayn Rand's "Objectivist" ideas on American financial markets, particularly via the influence on Alan Greenspan.
Part. 2. The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts. Machine ideas such as cybernetics and systems theory were applied to natural ecosystems, and a false idea of self-stabilising feedback loops. Adam Curtis concludes that while the self organising network is good at organising change, it is much less good at what comes next. The result is that networks leave people helpless in the face of those already in power in the world.
Part 3. The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey. Darwinism and the selfish gene theory are intertwined with the tragic history of post-colonial Africa and the Rwanda massacres.
If there is a unifying message to Curtis' oeuvre, it must be that vain infatuation with concepts leads to the tyranny of theories and ideologies, which perpetuate inequality, injustice and oligarchical rule. Our salvation lies closer to home: in common sense, fair play and our own initiative.
This is a story about the rise of the machines
And why no one believes you can change the world for the better anymore
How we decided that we were machines ourselves
Played video games
And helped start Africa's world war
-- Adam Curtis.
VIDEO QUALITY ADVISORY: Adam Curtis films are available only in versions recorded from broadcast. Video quality will not be on a par with a digital production DVD.
Part. 2. The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts. Machine ideas such as cybernetics and systems theory were applied to natural ecosystems, and a false idea of self-stabilising feedback loops. Adam Curtis concludes that while the self organising network is good at organising change, it is much less good at what comes next. The result is that networks leave people helpless in the face of those already in power in the world.
Part 3. The Monkey in the Machine and the Machine in the Monkey. Darwinism and the selfish gene theory are intertwined with the tragic history of post-colonial Africa and the Rwanda massacres.
If there is a unifying message to Curtis' oeuvre, it must be that vain infatuation with concepts leads to the tyranny of theories and ideologies, which perpetuate inequality, injustice and oligarchical rule. Our salvation lies closer to home: in common sense, fair play and our own initiative.
This is a story about the rise of the machines
And why no one believes you can change the world for the better anymore
How we decided that we were machines ourselves
Played video games
And helped start Africa's world war
-- Adam Curtis.
VIDEO QUALITY ADVISORY: Adam Curtis films are available only in versions recorded from broadcast. Video quality will not be on a par with a digital production DVD.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
When was the last time you saw a documentary that told you something you didn't already know?
Or that honestly made you think about an issue in a way you hadn't before?
Would you like to see such a film?
If so, then "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" is for you.
Of course, this series of three interrelated one hour programs isn't really a "documentary" at all as the term would usually be understood. It doesn't just pick what we would all automatically accept as a readily definable subject and then attempt to give us an impartial overview. Rather, this series would be far better described as a kind of video essay. It ranges over what would normally be viewed as widely disparate phenomena, unifying them via themes - indeed, we might even say theories - that emerge almost as a mosaic as successive phenomena are scrutinised through the film-maker's lens.
In the first episode, the life and philosophy of Ayn Rand are examined in parallel with the counter-culture of the 1960s, the utopian vision of the early computer pioneers, and the course of the American economy and body politic under the stewardship of Allan Greenspan and Bill Clinton.
In the second episode, cybernetic models of ecosystems, and in particular the idea that such ecosystems tend towards a stable equilibrium, are critiqued alongside the application of such ideas to human societies.
In the final episode, The Selfish Gene idea popularised by Richard Dawkins is examined side by side with the Rwandan massacres so familiar to us all from decades of tragic news broadcasts from the former Belgian Congo. For those who are sensitive to such things, I should warn you that this episode does include one rather brutal shot of a dead baby obviously killed in just such a massacre.
If these episodes have a single unifying theme, it is the rejection of purely rational, machine models of nature, and of human nature and human affairs in particular. In many ways the series can be viewed as the direct spiritual descendent of the cult 1960s French sci-fi film Alphaville.
Cinematic allusions aside, the present work is at its most emphatic in its rejection of the idea that we can somehow dispense with traditional moral philosophy and traditional politics; especially when this idea finds expression in the view that that we are all best off when government is simply done away with and individuals are left entirely to their own devices. It is important to stress that this idea is rejected with equal fervour irrespective of whether it is found emanating from the left or the right. The anarchist communes of the hippies and the deregulated markets of the economic rationalists both come in for equally harsh criticism.
Finally, although of course it's hardly the main point of the work, it is worth mentioning that this is a series with rather eclectic and exciting selections of title and background music.
As for myself, I would like to add one closing remark:
I give this series five stars because it is, I believe, a genuinely thoughtful and interesting piece of work. That doesn't necessarily mean that I completely agree with everything the film-maker had to say. I don't. And if only because of the sheer breadth of material covered, I'm guessing that most of you won't either. But boy, it's a film made by someone who's really thought about things and who truly has something to say for himself.
How many documentaries have you seen in your life that you could honestly say that about?
Theo.
Or that honestly made you think about an issue in a way you hadn't before?
Would you like to see such a film?
If so, then "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" is for you.
Of course, this series of three interrelated one hour programs isn't really a "documentary" at all as the term would usually be understood. It doesn't just pick what we would all automatically accept as a readily definable subject and then attempt to give us an impartial overview. Rather, this series would be far better described as a kind of video essay. It ranges over what would normally be viewed as widely disparate phenomena, unifying them via themes - indeed, we might even say theories - that emerge almost as a mosaic as successive phenomena are scrutinised through the film-maker's lens.
In the first episode, the life and philosophy of Ayn Rand are examined in parallel with the counter-culture of the 1960s, the utopian vision of the early computer pioneers, and the course of the American economy and body politic under the stewardship of Allan Greenspan and Bill Clinton.
In the second episode, cybernetic models of ecosystems, and in particular the idea that such ecosystems tend towards a stable equilibrium, are critiqued alongside the application of such ideas to human societies.
In the final episode, The Selfish Gene idea popularised by Richard Dawkins is examined side by side with the Rwandan massacres so familiar to us all from decades of tragic news broadcasts from the former Belgian Congo. For those who are sensitive to such things, I should warn you that this episode does include one rather brutal shot of a dead baby obviously killed in just such a massacre.
If these episodes have a single unifying theme, it is the rejection of purely rational, machine models of nature, and of human nature and human affairs in particular. In many ways the series can be viewed as the direct spiritual descendent of the cult 1960s French sci-fi film Alphaville.
Cinematic allusions aside, the present work is at its most emphatic in its rejection of the idea that we can somehow dispense with traditional moral philosophy and traditional politics; especially when this idea finds expression in the view that that we are all best off when government is simply done away with and individuals are left entirely to their own devices. It is important to stress that this idea is rejected with equal fervour irrespective of whether it is found emanating from the left or the right. The anarchist communes of the hippies and the deregulated markets of the economic rationalists both come in for equally harsh criticism.
Finally, although of course it's hardly the main point of the work, it is worth mentioning that this is a series with rather eclectic and exciting selections of title and background music.
As for myself, I would like to add one closing remark:
I give this series five stars because it is, I believe, a genuinely thoughtful and interesting piece of work. That doesn't necessarily mean that I completely agree with everything the film-maker had to say. I don't. And if only because of the sheer breadth of material covered, I'm guessing that most of you won't either. But boy, it's a film made by someone who's really thought about things and who truly has something to say for himself.
How many documentaries have you seen in your life that you could honestly say that about?
Theo.
Anyone who has seen Adam Curtis' prior documentary series, 'The Power of Nightmares' and 'The Trap - Whatever happened to Freedom?'will already be aware of his unique style of presenting material that always causes pause for consideration and concern. This latest addition to his body of work is no exception, building upon his prior ability to examine what is often so tellingly off-base regarding many of the basic presuppositions which inform and feed the modern world. In this series, the enquiry shifts to the aims and aspirations of technocracy and where these have failed, particularly in relation to the human condition. Curtis' ability to question and examine what so many have ignored or merely taken for granted is a most refreshing and welcome look at the issues which really impact upon us all.
Whilst the quality of this reproduction of the original BBC productions is somewhat lacking, the material will most certainly keep most viewers very much engaged - certainly productions that will be watched more than once.
Whilst the quality of this reproduction of the original BBC productions is somewhat lacking, the material will most certainly keep most viewers very much engaged - certainly productions that will be watched more than once.
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