Some Kind of Heaven (2020)

Some Kind of Heaven: Directed by Lance Oppenheim. With Dennis Dean, Lynn Henry, Anne Kincer, Reggie Kincer. Behind the gates of a palm tree-lined fantasyland, four residents of America’s largest retirement community, The Villages, FL, strive to find solace and meaning.

“Some kind of heaven follows five different people living in the villages, the largest retirement village is the USA. The goal of the villages is to give the feeling of youth once again to the retired residents, many feel as if they do, but the few people we follow arenu0026#39;t really getting the intended experience.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt was fascinating to see how living in a place like the villages can affect your perception of what life is so much, most everyone living there has become detached from reality. And the thing is, that doesnu0026#39;t matter, all they need to know is the villages for the rest of their lives.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe presentation is interesting and unusual for a documentary, Iu0026#39;m all for it, but the methodical presentation clashed with the musical score, Iu0026#39;ll get into that soon. Wide angles and slow zooms are frequently used, this gives you the choice of what to focus on. You could look at a group dancing on the street, a couple standing at the bar or somebody sunbathing. no matter what you choose to focus on you are observing these peoples day to day lives.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI absolutely loved the score, as music. But I donu0026#39;t think it was used appropriately. Thereu0026#39;s some great interesting jazz, fantastical strings and some more disorienting distorted strings, unfortunately I think thereu0026#39;s a bit too much going on. When presenting something the way some kind of heaven is presented I feel like less striking music is a more effective choice as the main focus is the people we follow. Using such a unique score that more people are drawn to takes the focus off the focus of your film. Itu0026#39;s not like the people in the film arenu0026#39;t interesting either, I would be just as engaged in the conversation and habits of these characters with no music at all. On the other hand though the score gives a personality the film wouldnu0026#39;t have otherwise, it has such a unique character that Iu0026#39;ve never seen or heard in a documentary before.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cinematography is very good, the vibrant setting absolutely helps. I liked the slow zoom sequences a lot. DOP David Bolen was able to make wine look really sexy.”