The extent of the documentary, Over the Edge, directed and produced by Kit Melamed on CBC’s The Fifth Estate is based on a true story about a daring and adventurous 24-year-old individual named Sam Brown. His thrill to test his limits and craving the adrenaline he receives when living on the edge, entangles him in to partaking in the marijuana drug smuggling business in BC, Canada. His extraverted personality leads him into an addiction to money, which then caused him to overlook his situation, therefore costing him his freedom and unfortunately, his life. Sam did not plan to have his situation end this way, he actually wanted to get out of this business when he finds out one of his partners is placed in jail. But it was too late.
The documentary is very personal and states the facts very clearly through various interviews with people closely related to Sam Brown. The re-enactments throughout the documentary helped me visualize exactly what took place and gave me a sense of suspense as the story unfolded. The dramatic music effectively set the mood and tone of the documentary, which I found very efficient. The archival footage and photographs of Sam and his family also helped me visualize the characters being discussed more clearly and gave me a sense of personal relation to Sam, as if I had known him myself.
Over the Edge not only touched based on the protagonists life, but also revealed the federal and law side of the situation, which I thought was very effective. Most documentaries choose to only unfold the story of one side of the situation, giving a more biased approached. The law was given a voice in this segment, which I thought was very interesting and informative.
The Fifth Estate conducts its documentary very well, for they freely choose to approach topics and situations which are both interesting and challenging, and get right down to the matter. The footage they shoot is very real, raw, personable and fresh. Usually I find hosts or narrators of documentaries to be too serious or too uptight, but the host in this segment was very comfortable to listen to and watch. I enjoy watching Fifth Estate documentaries for the soul reason that it offers the truth the way it is, not twisting the message in such a way that looses the stories significance and moral value. I feel that every time I finish watching a Fifth Estate documentary, I walk away with more knowledge, insight, strength and courage as a model citizen and as a filmmaker.
Very good.
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