The first thing I have to say is this: WATCH THIS FILM. Plunk down the plastic, buy the ticket, take the digital ride. As with all of the best documentaries, Men with Beards provides a paradigm-shifting glimpse into a world you have heretofore known absolutely nothing about (unless, of course, you happen to be among the chosen few brave enough to flaunt a ferociously full furry facial friend with the unabashed schwazé of those happy souls featured in this film!). I defy he who finishes this film without at least having the URGE to grow a beard.
As a moustachioed man myself, I could identify with nearly every sentiment expressed in the film; so much so that, if I closed my eyes, I could imagine the interviewees were actually talking about my experience these last eight years with the moustache! One of the interviewees expressed it best when he said something along the lines of: the beard is as much a part of the man as his eyes or a limb, there is simply no separating it from who he is as a complete human being. This sentiment alone, if fully comprehended, is enough to change any nay-sayer's view on those who deign display a dastardly daub of un-depilated deliciousness.
But beyond delivering the goods on a very singular subject matter, this film is simply well done in all formal aspects as well. The beautifully shot interviews capture equally beautiful individuals. An appropriate amount of archival footage—covering everything from propagandistic hygiene films to stop motion animation of a man with such a prodigious beard it must be carried before him in a wheelbarrow!—rounds out the first-person testimony nicely. But perhaps the most impressive formal aspect of the film was the editing. One approaching this film might ask himself, "Yeah, I get it. Beards. How are they gonna sustain THAT one for a full eighty minutes?" And yet, each scene bleeds into the next with a seamless fluidity that completely immerses the viewer in the wonderful flow. The editor, Michael Sanders, did exquisite work here, finding connections both overt and subliminal between topics and using these to paint an ever-broadening view of MEN WITH BEARDS. Highly recommended.
