Reflections

Grass

35mm, 79 min., 1999 (USP)

This is one terrific romp through the schizoid history of the marijuana "menace" in the U.S. of A. Even if you weren't around 60 years ago when Harry Anslinger (the Herbert Hoover equivalent in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics) fired the first shots in the government's anti-pot campaign, which subsequently led to the creation of the DEA, there's certain to be a decade or two of government pot propaganda here that you'll be able to relate to. Remember when Jimmy Carter made that bold decriminalization proposal? Filmmaker Ron Mann, (a Canadian, no less, whose directorial credits include Twist and Comic Book Confidential, and who also produced Brakhage) has put together a fast-paced reel of hilarious, primo archival footage chronicling the prickly topic of what's-a-government-to-do about the unstoppable popularity of pot at all levels of society. Binding together Mann's collage of historical footage are his terrific special effects, animation, and soundtrack. Woody Harrelson narrates.