Great Photo, Lovely Life

As "Great Photo, Lively Life" (2023 release; 112 min.) opens, we are with Amanda and her mom Debbie, who are visiting Amanda's grandpa (Debbie's dad) in Florida, ready to finally confront him over the sexual abuses of many young girls all this years ago. He doesn't deny any of it, and in fact goes one further. We then go back in time to the 1970s in Bradford, PA, where he worked as a chiropractor. At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this movie is co-directed by Rachel Beth Anderson ("Unschooled") and Amanda Mustard, making her directing debut. The movie is a hard-hitting, if not shocking, but certainly devastating look back to the speechless acts of sexual abuse over many years by her grandfather, and the long-term consequences for the family and the victims. The grandfather shows no signs of remorse, zero, and explains it all like you would explain buying a loaf of bread at the grocery store, To Amanda's immense credit, she does not shy away from the difficult moments, and plows on to get to the bottom of this, including the responsibilities of the people around her grandfather, including i=his wife and yes, Amanda's mother. Please note that this will make many viewers uncomfortable, as surely I was.

"Great Photo, Lovely Life" premiered at SXSW earlier this year to immediate critical acclaim. It is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. It started airing on HBO two weeks ago and it is also streaming on Max, where I caught it. If you want to understand the truly devastating effects of a serial pedophile on his victims, his family, and society as a while, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

What was the purpose? He didnt went to jail again, noone got closure, no laws were changed, he wasnt even confronted the right way, the family didnt heal and he even did his thing one last time in his final days! We can excuse everything with creating "awareness" but its just too trivial in my opinion. I feel she used his whole family suffering to create this documentary. There we're too many shots where she was the "movie star". I know it wasnt an easy documentary to create because of the emocional connection, but i think that affected the whole project. Im just happy it ended.

The topic behind this piece is really serious and has to be talked about (or screamed) but in some points it was just the excuse to show drama.

From a technical stand point i really likes the cinematography and the edition, it makes you feel a lot of things and that is what art is supposed to do.

I cant rate this.

I'm floored, disturbed, angry, and in utter dismay after seeing this. The bravery needed to tell this story must have been insurmountable. Endless gratitude to Amanda for doing this work and to her sister, mother, and all her grandfather's victims for surviving it.

The unending forgiveness and gifts of contact & affection, even still calling him "Grampa" instead of just "Bill" left me disgusted. It was a reminder at how skewed religion can make us in regard to the forgiveness aspect.

But I have no theory on the contact and affection. Only resentment. I'm sure it must have been difficult and complicated, but it made me angry that he got to experience the joy and love of having his family in his life when he clearly didn't deserve to.

Everyone should see this film, especially if you live with "a secret you shouldn't have to keep".

A loving granddaughter explores the terror unleashed for decades on defenseless children by her twisted, sick grandfather and what the aftermath has done to the family as it drips down over generations. While the film usually takes too lenient a view of the monster/subject's enabling wife, it still manages to make clear that predators such as these are rarely able to wreak their havoc without support, and that anyone who provides it DOES bear responsibility. The "Christianity" displayed in the film is both maddening and sad. Little wonder the filmmaker abandoned her faith given the totally warped way it is understood, practiced, and weaponized by those around her. I hope she one day encounters true Christianity, which does not sweep sin under the rug or flog victims with religiosity, but loves and pursues true justice. Bill exhibited no signs of true remorse or repentance in the film, and hearing him invoke God's name was nauseating. In any case, his days of getting away with anything are surely over now. I hope those he left in shambles find true peace.

This is without a doubt one of the strongest and most self-aware documentaries I have ever seen. Beautiful visuals and nuanced delivery. It feels like I'm experiencing someone's memories firsthand.

The film rings so true to family dysfunction - and the complex ways that the human mind processes that dysfunction in order to protect ourselves. It tracks many years in the life of the family, so we see through the camerawoman's eyes how family dynamics play out both short-term and long-term. It's honest and heartfelt.

So many documentaries go overboard with exposition and oversimplify trauma. This one doesn't. Highly recommend.