Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple

I saw this in San Francisco, where the Peoples Temple was located in the 70s. Former Peoples Temple members and the director and writer of the movie were present (and there was discussion after the screening). It was certainly a powerful place and way to see it, but I think the movie stands on its own. It does a good job of showing what attracted people to the Peoples Temple and how, gradually, things started to go very wrong. There is footage from the days of the Peoples Temple as well as new and moving testimony (that feels like the right word) from former members and family of members.

It's not clear if it will get distributed theatrically but, if not, the director said it will air on PBS in 2007. Highly recommended.

I saw this film Tuesday afternoon at the San Francisco International Film Festival and it was amazing. It had a running time of approx. 90 minutes but I'm not really sure because I couldn't take my eyes off of the screen. The film unfolds chronologically and covers the formative years of Jim Jones' life and the birth, rise and eventual demise of the People's Temple. The story is told through interviews with the surviving members of the People's Temple, their family members and the survivors of Congressman Leo Ryan's ill-fated trip to Guyana. The director of the film forces us to look at the People's Temple on it's own merits and set aside the preconceived notions we have regarding the "mass suicide" and the tired notion that the members of the church were cult members who enthusiastically drank cyanide laced kool-aid to ascend to heaven. The former members of the church come off as enlightened idealists who were searching for a life with meaning in a society that ignored them because of their poverty or the color of their skin and they found their champion in Jim Jones. This film doesn't ask questions and answer them; it provides you w/ information and you are forced to disseminate it yourself. We get to see Jones for what he was: a father, a political power broker, old time preacher, son of a dysfunctional family, molester, savior, integrationist and killer.The camera doesn't pass judgment on history it just records it. This documentary fills in the gaps of a story that we thought knew. The music, archival photos and film footage used are amazing. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is interested in the subject. The documentary unfolds like a dream and takes you on ride through the history of the People's Temple, it grabs you and doesn't let go.

This film documents the life of Jim Jones, his emergence as a charismatic and successful religious figure, and his eventual downfall.

The whole People's Temple story always struck me as just another of the 60's cult phenomena. We had Rajneesh and his farm, and uncountable other guru's who exploited, and continue to exploit, large numbers of gullible followers. The Moonies are still with us, but well below the radar most of the time.

What's odd about Jim Jones -- to me, anyway -- is that no one really seems to know who this guy really was. This film gives more insight than anything else I've seen or read. It talks about his childhood, which was extremely poor, and his family situation, which was equally grim, so we get some insight there. But he was a very carefully guarded fellow. Always wearing those shades, always talking in the manner of a preacher. But who was he really? What was he like when he took off the robes and had a beer? We may never know. His followers certainly didn't know, and no doubt that's a major part of the problem. There is one scene in this documentary in which Jones is standing at the back of a group of people at a large gathering, and his demeanor reminded me of the dictator in North Korea -- it was that kind of vague, arrogant, totally in control look. Spooky.

The most telling comment in this film was the remark made by one of the PT's former members, who said "No one ever goes and joins a cult. They join a church, or a club." But what is the tipping point at which people can tolerate psychological and physical abuse against themselves and their friends? We don't get an answer to that. The people who made this film didn't have to tell us the answer, but it would have been a better film if they had.

This story is so much more complex than news reports of the Guyana tragedy would have us believe. The members of The People's Temple had such altruistic intentions: they had a vision of a Utopian society where racial harmony and true brotherhood was the order of the day. They wanted to guarantee care for the poor, the elderly, children....and they wanted to create real community. This doco manages to tell the whole story, while honoring the pure intentions of the Temple members, and even shedding light on the paradoxical cult leader, Jim Jones - a man who was impressively liberal and progressive, politically, but frighteningly meglomaniacal and abusive, when it came to leading his "flock." The strength of this film lies in the fact that it isn't just a play-by-play from afar, but a collection of first-hand interviews with people who were actually there, and who knew the key players. A must-see for anyone who was alive and aware went these events took place.

Those poor people that died; with great sincerity, they trusted the good reverend Jim Jones. He was their "father", their leader; he could do no wrong. Jones promised a better life for his followers in the jungles of Guyana. Jonestown was to be a utopia on earth. And all those who went ... believed. Yet, in reality, Jones was a flimflam man, a con artist, a monster suffering from paranoia, egomania, and delusions of grandeur.

This documentary retells the infamous story, with archival footage of Jones' past, and how he organized the Peoples Temple in California. We learn that Jones, charismatic and charming, was quite deceptive, and that he sold himself as God to his flock: "Some people see a great deal of God in my body; they see Christ in me."

Though Jonestown residents seemed superficially happy, trouble lurked underneath the smiles and laughter. Upon the visit of a U.S. Congressman and camera crew, a number of Jonestown residents wanted to leave. Which didn't sit well with the good reverend, infinitely suspicious of the intentions both of his own people and of the U.S. Government.

The first 48-minute segment of this documentary describes general events before the move to Guyana, and consists largely of interviews. Only in the second half does the film actually detail the final couple of days, November 17th and 18th, 1978. But with filmed events at the scene, and photos, that final 25-minute segment is riveting in its horrifying reality.

The documentary could have been better. Especially in the first half, there are way too many repetitive interviews, which focus on impressions rather than facts. I would like to have seen a more factual presentation. Too much time is spent on pre-Guyana events. And the photos don't identify who is in the pictures.

Nevertheless, the real-life story itself is so overwhelming, so powerful, that even a mediocre production can be riveting and amazing, as this one is. That such an idealized utopia could morph so quickly into a hellish nightmare shows what a poisonous mix isolation, gullibility, and mass hypnosis can be.