Running with Arnold

1. Running with Arnold, Documentary, Millsaps College, February 15, 2012
2. This film was essentially a breakdown of the political life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It began with his youth in Austria, moved to his success as a bodybuilder, and finally focused on his rise in the political arena. Once the film arrived at this point, the mood shifted to picking apart why/how he makes a poor politician. This continued for the duration of the documentary. 
3. I feel like the music and the editing style (in regards to cinematography) was the strength behind this piece. The music that was picked went very well with the theme, and served to reiterate or drive home points that the filmmaker was trying to make. Furthermore, the way the film was edited allowed for lots of different voices to be heard, e.g. numerous people featured throughout the piece.  
4. I very much liked that there was a clear chronological line of reasoning taking us from Arnold as a boy, to Arnold as a governor. This method allowed for us to get the whole picture. 
5. Though this was a documentary that was designed to get an opinion across, and convince an audience, I thought the director could have done a better job of conveying "the other side" to the audience. It was obviously important for him to share his thoughts, but in order to sound like a legitimate source, one needs to recognize the other side. This is something that I think this director could work on. Also, I think it would be good for the director to make a short followup film to his documentary. Several important events have happened in the former California governor's life since the making of this documentary that I think have the potential to strengthen the existing documentary.