Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)

This could have been a great exercise in understanding the human condition and the nature of religious cults but instead we get a half-hearted, breezy little film with clumsy editing and shallow, childish themes. It completely fails to intelligently assess what happened.The romanticized ending where the ex-members go on in tears about how they tried to create paradise on earth and that even though it failed, at least they made the effort was just too much. Free from the cult, these people continue to be idiotic, pathetically vulnerable human beings without a shred of dignity or intelligence - completely content with playing "victim". Sure were brainwashed and abused but it's been years since the incident and these grown men and women are still unable to assume partial responsibility for the mass killings of innocent kids and random politicians. Jim Jones is just one man. Ultimately it's the blind followers and sad, silly, co-dependent escapists easily lured by unrealistic promises who enable psychopaths like Jim Jones to thrive. This film deserves to be burned for ending on such a ridiculous, offensive note.

The best Peoples Temple documentary so far, but there remains considerable room for improvement. "The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" glosses over numerous bizarre events in the life of Jim Jones, such as his acquaintance with Dan Mitrione--an infamous undercover CIA operative who was assassinated in Uruguay in 1970--and Jones's extended stay in Brazil during the early 1960s. (Mitrione was there at the same time, working for the U.S. State Department, and the CIA has admitted that it opened a file on Jones when Mitrione was dispatched to Brazil in September 1960). These are established facts, not unverified rumors, so it seems simply lazy to exclude them from what purports to be an evenhanded account of Jones's quasi-religious Marxist cult. Also unexamined here is the medical evidence indicating that most of the 913 victims at Jonestown did not commit suicide, but were murdered. Survivor Stanley Clayton, who is interviewed in the film, saw adults being forcibly injected with cyanide before he escaped from the isolated jungle settlement (see Tim Reiterman's "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People"), which appears to confirm the findings of Guyana's chief pathologist Dr. Leslie Mootoo, who was the first to examine the bodies. Those findings, however, are not discussed in the documentary. Were mind control experiments being conducted at Jonestown? (There were large amounts of drugs like sodium thiopental and chloral hydrate in the compound's medical facilities.) Was Jim Jones connected to the CIA, and did the agency seize the perfect opportunity to silence Congressman Leo Ryan, one of its most vocal critics? "The Life and Death of Peoples Temple" eschews these questions, predictably reducing the story--once again--to a real-life soap opera about a megalomaniac and his tragically misguided disciples. The interviews with those who knew Jones and worked alongside or followed him are fascinating, but significant and perhaps crucial chunks of the Peoples Temple saga are missing from this film.

Jonestown, directed by Stanley Nelson, is a film covering the disastrous mass "suicide" of 900 members of The Peoples Temple, led by preacher, Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guana in 1978.The ideas that were presented in this film were numerous; however, I found the idea of the grand power of brainwashing to be particularly interesting. The idea that "you don't ever join a cult, you join a religious or political group with people you like and with whom you have similar views" struck me. Jim Jones made these people believe that his way of life was the only way of life, made them think they could not leave his program, and told them that "if you wanted me to be your God, I will be your God." Though the film focuses mainly on the major events that were involved in creating and being a part of The Peoples Temple and then finally the suicide, the film also talks about Jim Jones as a person. They mention that he was obsessed with death as a child, and was a very good speaker and preacher. It makes mention of false miracles, his abuse of alcohol, and other illicit actions he takes part in. This man influenced so many people and brainwashed them to believe that there was no reason to live any longer, they should just die in peace. It is a scary thing to think that a man like that can have that kind of power over so many people.Those interviewed ranged from members of The Peoples Temple who were unable to go to Guana, relatives of those who were involved in The Peoples Temple, and a women who was able to visit Guana the day before the suicide, to those who managed to escape into the jungle of Guana the day of the tragedy. Those who were able to escape are to be applauded for their bravery to be on film. Their stories are heart-wrenching, and the fact they shared that part of themselves with an audience is to be highly recognized. Two men who were interviewed, whose story you follow throughout the film, watch their children die and hold their wives in their arms as they slip out of consciousness. These two men were able to escape that day.Stanley Nelson directed "The American Experience", which was four documentaries, one of which was Jonestown. The other installments in this series were The Murder of Emmett Till (2003), Marcus Garvey: Look for Me in the Whirlwind (2001) and We Shall Remain: Part V - Wounded Knee, which is to air in May of this year. He has also directed films like, "The Black Press: Soldiers without Swords" and "A Place of Our Own." Looking at the film from a purely technical standpoint I really appreciated the editing style in the film. I really loved the use of audio of Jones preaching over still images. I liked all of the images they used of Jonestown and the pictures they used of the dead members laying face down with Jones' voice over it. It was haunting. Also, the music in the film wasn't overbearing and therefore it was very effective. It was well used for tone and establishing a mood for the audience.I really enjoyed watching Jonestown, and I felt it was well filmed and though it must have been a difficult thing to shoot it was handled with great care and creativity. It was a chilling experience and certainly taught me something I didn't know about previously.

The horrific story of the Jonestown massacre never stops to stir powerful emotions in all of us. A man who attempted to fight segregation and racism in 1950's Indiana ends up as a crazy communist style dictator and slaughters over 900 hundred of his flock. It is easy to see how Jim Jones managed to attract so many faithful in the beginning. There are lost souls everywhere, and it seems there are more of them every day. He reached to those who didn't matter in a society obsessed with money and success. He provided family to many who never had it. And most of all he made those who believed in him important and unique.But, alas that kind of power and adoration always ends in tragedy. Jim Jones was a drug addict and a fake, and above all a dangerous, disturbed person. The consequence is hundreds of dead and many more damaged for life. There is one question that poses itself. Why is it that in our country, "the greatest land on earth", so many people seek solace in the next world following crazed prophets. The answer to that question might be a sobering one. There is no room for failure and weakness in America. When that happens, you are on your own. Until some Jones, Koresh or Alamo comes along and the real horror starts.