The Garden

Written and Directed by: Scott Hamilton Kennedy

There existed in downtown Los Angeles a large community farm. The food was simply grown by people for people. It began as an attempt to heal the city after the riots in 1994. For years it it existed peacefully, until one day the owner of the land, who had acquired the property under dubious circumstances, decided to kick everyone off. This documentary tells of the battle to control the farm.

Although I agreed with the sentiment of the film, it must be stated clearly that this documentary is clearly skewed to the side of the farmers. It's not clear how much effort was made to reach out to the other side of the story - and there's a real possibility that a genuine effort was made and declined - but the final product casts one side as the underdogs and the other as the millionaire, politically-connected villain. Not that this excuses the villain's behavior.

Regardless of the "sides" of the story, Kennedy does a great job of showing the personal, legal, and political struggles of the typically disenfranchised group of farmers. Just as they are literally trying to hold on to the land, they also have to work to hold on to hope and to keep their fledgling group together.

The movie definitely has a tear-jerker climax with some devastating imagery. (History spoiler: The farmers lose and the garden gets bulldozed. Seriously.) Even if the outcome is obvious from the start, it's hard not to root for the farmers along the way, which makes the ending even more upsetting.

Masterpiece? This film is not. It does show an allegorical tale of The Haves against The Have Nots and the powerful influence The Haves hold over our world.

I generally recommend this film because of the essence of the story it tells, not because it is a great piece of documentary work.