I'm looking for a documentaries that focus on a series of significant events making up a major plot, but also feature intimate, individual character studies that accentuate said plot. An example of what I'm talking about would be combining the over-arching,talking-head style storytelling of a film like Inside Job with the cinema verite intimacy of a film like American Movie. The only film that really pops into my mind is Beer Wars (combining the history and evolution of the American beer industry with the personal stories of three microbrewers), but that's not exactly right since the filmmaker herself is a character who guides us through the story (ala Michael Moore). I'm looking for something that's part Steve James and part Alex Gibney. Most docs seem to be more one or the other...

Any suggestions?

How about King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. It has a plot, a hero, a villain, drama and characterization. It's also hilarious.

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

This movie blew my mind. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys docs or crime/mystery stuff. I believe its on instant watch at the moment.

Its 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and has a 82 metacritic.

Those are both great documentaries but not really in line with what I'm looking for. I would consider King of Kong and Dear Zachary to both be in the character/American Movie category of docs. I'm looking for a film that features the qualities of broad-viewed, removed multi-voice narration from a variety of experts/talking heads, along with the intimate, highly subjective narrative of a deeply explored character or characters. Maybe my description is just too vague, or this is too hard to really pinpoint.

Hai Ryan

The Thin Blue Line?

Firpo, I got your hook-up.

I would highly recommend both

Senna

and

Big River Man

or maybe

We Live in Public
Casino Jack and the U.S. of Money
Bobby Fischer against the World
Zoo
Overnight
Catfish
the Burden of Dreams
My Best Fiend

There's several more that might meet your description on my public imdb list, sorted for your convenience http://www.imdb.com/user/ur3003823/ratings

A State of Mind:

North Korean Documentary about the Big Games, where a young girl practices day and night for a rhythmic gymnastic role.

Anyways, this review explains it better than I do: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2010/north...state-of-mind/

I would somewhat argue that the doc is more heavy on character than plot (though there is plenty), but it was a truly interesting film, IMO, available on Netflix instant watch.

the first that came to my mind was Too Big to Fail. it's not exactly what you were looking for though (no narration by experts, but definitely a subjective narrative).

Those sound like some great documentaries.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've seen many of them before but these are great reminders to go back and re-watch. Even though this list is quite thorough, it seems very difficult to find an example of a film that transitions from extended talking head/narrator + animation etc sequences to candid fly-on-the-wall character stuff...maybe for good reason?

Nice List. Thanks a million. How did you see Knuckle if I may ask? Is it available to rent somewhere?

I'm not sure I completely understand your question, but Man on Wire might qualify.

Yeah, I'm having difficulty clarifying it, but I can't think of any other way to explain. It's more about the style/storytelling techniques than the story. Man on Wire is great, but it's told with talking heads + archival and re-enactment footage -- no cinema verite/candid character stuff. If the film would have been simultaneously following around Phillipe Petti learning about his life today, it may have been a weaker film, but it would better fit my description.

A good example I just remembered is Page One. It's a documentary about the bleak future of print media and the potential collapse of the New York Times -- a newspaper everyone always regarded as invincible.

It simultaneously tells the story of the crumbling newspaper/print industry (in big sweeping strokes) while it follows around and explores the life of David Carr (in COPS, man-with-a-camera style) -- one of the NYT's star reporters. Ironically, the first user review I found while searching for it on Netflix said this:

Given all of the access the director had to the Times and its employees, this could have been a great film. Instead it comes across as completely disorganized. Is it the story of Times itself? Is it about the transition to digital? Is it a story about David Carr? Honestly if they had chosen a focus and stuck with that, the film could have been much more coherent. The David Carr angle would have been my choice, as he comes across as the only interesting subject in the film.

Maybe that's why most docs focus mainly on one style of storytelling or another.

I'm not sure you'd be interested, but a friend of mine did a feature documentary on her father, Alan Abel, called Abel Raises Cain. He is a very famous prankster, and the documentary is quite entertaining, in my opinion. It's kind of like the history of his stuff, with a lot of character thrown in to help you understand why he liked to do that kind of stuff.

When We Were Kings. The Rumble in the Jungle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUSxWilW9is

One word:

SALESMAN

Hoop Dreams

Added to Instant Queue, thanks.

Recently watched 180° South

Synopsis:

Thought it was very good, and I don't usually like this type of ****.

Petit, as a force of nature, is definitely long on character and the backstory to the planning of the event is heavy on plot. This film left me awestruck even though I knew that Mr. Petit accomplished the feat successfully.

Man On Wire also transported me back to when I was 10 years old in a way that was much more vivid than simply watching a movie or television show from that era.

Sorry not massively sure what you mean but Anvil? hey it's a good doc. anyway

Everything thing i watch comes from a bay full of uncouth sea-faring characters

Has anyone seen Jump!

It's about the Jump Roping World Championship or whatever it's called. Awesome characters, awesome plot, and a truly Dickensian Twist at the end that no fiction writer would ever create.

I saw this movie about 5 years ago at the LA Film Fest and it was honestly one of the best movies I ever seen. The only downfall is that at 85 minutes, it wasn't about 50% longer.

Edit: Here's a youtube preview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40cFGfZvM-Q

+1 to Senna.

Since no one has suggested it yet......

Street Fight
(One of my favorite Politic Documentaries)

It has a great plot and great characters!!