Commune (2005)
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95% of critics liked it
(19 reviews) -
47% of users liked it
(535 ratings)
In 1968 members of San Francisco's Mime Troupe and Digger Movement decided to separate from society and form their own community, known as the Black Bear Ranch, to reconnect with nature and experience a different way of life. At the turn of the new century the resilient counterculture settlement was… More In 1968 members of San Francisco's Mime Troupe and Digger Movement decided to separate from society and form their own community, known as the Black Bear Ranch, to reconnect with nature and experience a different way of life. At the turn of the new century the resilient counterculture settlement was still active at the base of majestic Mount Shasta, and filmmaker Jonathan Berman traveled to the eighty-acre tract to explore just how the Black Bear Ranch continues to thrive despite the concerns of their suspicious neighbors and the ever-present eyes of the F.B.I. Life is lived at a different pace at the Black Bear Ranch, and now, as nostalgic members of the commune openly discuss just how life in the community has changed over the years, outsiders can finally see precisely how the bold social experiment has continued to defy all predictions regarding its longevity. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Rating, Runtime
- Unrated, 1 hr. 20 min.
- Directed By
- Jonathan Berman
- Written By
- Jonathan Berman
- Genres
- Documentary, Special Interest
- In Theaters
- Nov 10, 2006 Limited
- On DVD
- Oct 23, 2007
- Studio
- Five Points Media
Critic Reviews
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Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times
Commune channels a bygone era of drop-outs living an American dream on the Free Love frontier. This is the happy alternative to the apocalyptic California sub-cultures of Charles Manson and the Rev. Jim Jones.
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G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Watching Jonathan Berman's affectionate documentary, Commune, about the influential establishment in Siskiyou County, brought to mind the recent documentary Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple.
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Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Commune gets at the central, seductive paradoxes inherent in so much counterculture belief and practice.
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Michael Ordoņa, Los Angeles Times
Fitfully interesting, but would have benefited from tighter focus and finer detail.
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V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Berman blends home movies of ranch life with interviews with former residents, their now-grown children and neighbors of the ranch.
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