Year: 2015
Directed and written by; Arto Halonen
Before you read this, I actually don't think you can spoil a documentary, but I'm going to say everything I can about the documentary, which means that if you are going to see it and want it to be surprise for some reason, I can't promise this post will be safe. Also this might include triggers, even if I try to avoid them. But how do you talk about massacres without it being possibly triggering?
"White rage is a story about Lauri and through him many other victims of school bullying and separate childhood trauma. Lauri is a victim of 'white rage', which can lead at it's worst to school shootings."
We went to see this documentary Valkoinen Raivo from school. Apparently it's not really out yet? I don't know what kind of in advance show that was. The director was going to talk after the documentary was shown, but I couldn't stay for that, since I had to go to other classes. I really wish I could've stayed, it would've been interesting. The whole documentary was interesting.
The documentary used the story of "Lauri" as a structure for the documentary. He was an excellent example. At the beginning I thought that he actually had committed some kind of decimation, but no. He managed to see psychiatrists and control his anger and the fantasies of killing people. He did become an academic researcher on the subject... You know, aggression and violent behaviour. And if I understood right he created the theory of white rage and black rage. Black rage is when you get so angry that you are almost out of control. White rage has been built over the years, and the person suffering from white rage is calm and collected. This is more common with mass murderers, apparently.
The documentary used examples that probably would feel distant to foreign viewers. The examples include Raumanmeri school shooting, Jokela school shooting and Kauhajoki school shooting. I still remember the last two, especially the last one. I still remember where I was when I learnt about it. I was about 12 at the time, and it happened... well, very close to our town. That kind of thing is scary for a 12-year-old, let me assure you. Those examples and the others felt so real when they were shown on a big screen, accompanied by the real story of someone. They showed clips from the news and clips from the videos to murderers from Jokela and Kauhajoki had uploaded to YouTube. Those made the whole thing feel very real and... well, distressing. There were examples from elsewhere too. One was a school massacre from the US, but I'm not exactly sure which one it was, but considering it was from 1999, I think it might have been Columbine High School massacre. Other examples were terrorist groups (very briefly) and 2011 Norway attacks.
The story of "Lauri" and the examples made it sure that the documentary was very distressing and agonising. I'd like to call it touching also, but that doesn't feel like exactly the right word. But after the documentary I felt like throwing up and slightly paranoid. That might sound like a bad thing, but it means that the documentary was effective. It needs to be effective! It is about something very, very important. Which is kind of why I want to tell everyone to go see this, if it's in any way possible. It is possibly triggering and makes you feel horrible, but it is so important.
The film definitely was well made. The cinematography was weirdly beautiful, which made the whole thing even more eerier. The music had the same kind of effect. It was amazing, and if documentaries are actually made this well, I just might want to see more of them. We'll see...
But I felt kind of weird in the audience considering people sitting next to me and my friend seemed like such professionals. They were taking notes, and the other didn't even glance at his notes but kept his eyes at the screen. That's damn impressive. I feel like I have much to learn.
And since I want to feel like a pro, I want to say that I think this film has potential for Academy Award Nominations. It is extremely well done, and even though the examples are Finnish and that way very foreign to the academy people in Hollywood, the subject is universally important. I don't remember if foreign documentaries had their own category or not (I think not), but still I think Valkoinen Raivo should be nominated. Well, maybe we should wait until it's published.
Valkoinen Raivo really made me think. It's an excellent documentary, and I think everybody who manages should see it. (By 'manage' I mean doesn't get too distressed and who actually can go to a show. I don't know if it's going to be shown abroad. It probably is, but I don't know where, and how many people are into documentaries.)
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
10 / 10
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