Leonardo da Vinci
Legendary documentarian Ken Burns, along with his collaborators Sarah Burns and David McMahon, returns with a sprawling and intimate portrait of an iconic historical figure: Leonardo da Vinci. This film delves into the life of the artist, inventor, philosopher, and scientist, chronicling his journey from a curious youth to a polymath whose artistic and intellectual pursuits reshaped our understanding of the world. Through vivid storytelling, it captures how da Vinci’s insatiable curiosity and mastery of observation led to pioneering innovations—from aerial maps to anatomical studies—that informed his art and elevated it to a transcendent level, remaining profoundly relevant over 500 years later.
I’ll admit, I haven’t spent much time studying da Vinci in depth, so I found this film to be deeply enlightening. It not only channels the obsessive curiosity of its subject but also humanizes a figure often shrouded in myth, from the glorifications and reconstructions of his works to the conspiracy theories and fictional retellings that have surrounded him for centuries.
Leonardo da Vinci is the film I didn’t realize I needed right now. As a filmmaker and artist, I left inspired, reminded that great art often stems from an intense, focused curiosity about the world and people around us. For da Vinci, this curiosity manifested in a relentless desire to understand how the world works. In an age where knowledge is often reduced to quick Google searches, this film serves as a powerful reminder to step into the world and experience it directly, embracing the messy, tactile process of discovery that fuels true creativity.
Leonardo da Vinci is now available from PBS.
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy
Often, I come across a documentary that doesn’t necessarily present new information but instead distills familiar ideas into an accessible and impactful story. Enter the new Netflix film Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy.
This film unpacks how tech giants like Amazon have perfected the century-old dream of consumer capitalism, seamlessly integrating it into our daily lives. The cycle is almost automatic: we remember we need something, grab our phones—which themselves will soon be obsolete—and with just a few taps, the item arrives at our doorstep within a day or two, as if by magic. But what’s often ignored—or intentionally overlooked—is the darker side of this convenience. What happens to all these products, increasingly designed to be disposable or short-lived, when we’re done with them?
The answer is sobering. Much of it ends up in landfills, which are simply an “away” we prefer not to think about. Or it’s incinerated, releasing toxic pollutants into the air. Plastics break down into microplastics, infiltrating our oceans, food, and even our bodies. Electronics recycling often involves shipping toxic waste to poorer countries, where workers are exposed to hazardous chemicals without protection.
While Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy is far from a perfect documentary, it succeeds in sparking a crucial conversation. It falls short of exploring deeper systemic issues, like how early advertisers, inspired by Freud’s nephew Edward Bernays, used psychology to fuel consumerism, or why our society rewards companies for environmentally destructive behavior in the relentless pursuit of profit. However, the film does deliver enough visceral imagery to leave an impression, and I hope it motivates viewers to question the systems we so often take for granted.
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy is now available from Netflix.
