A chronicle of the former president's tour recent for his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."A chronicle of the former president's tour recent for his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."A chronicle of the former president's tour recent for his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
- Awards
- 3 wins & 3 nominations
Lillian Carter
- Self
- (archive footage)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to the film's press notes, the milestones and achievements of the Carter Center include: (1) Leading a coalition that has reduced incidences of Guinea worm disease from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to about 25,000 today, making it likely to be the first disease since smallpox to be wiped off the face of the Earth ; (2) Observing more than 67 elections in 26 countries to help establish and strengthen democracies ; (3) Teaching techniques that have helped more than 8 million small-scale farmers in 15 African nations to double or triple grain production ; (4) Furthering avenues to peace in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Sudan, Uganda, the Korean Peninsula, Haiti, and Bosnia and Herzegovina ; (5) Helping to establish a village-based health care delivery system in thousands of communities in Africa that now have trained health care personnel and volunteers to distribute drugs and provide health education ; (6) Strengthening international standards for human rights and the voices of individuals defending those rights in their communities worldwide ; and (7) Advancing efforts to improve mental health care and diminish the stigma against people with mental illness.
Featured review
mostly a 'fly-on-the-wall' approach to the former President...
...but despite some of Jonathan Demme's techniques to making Man from Plains, which are either interesting (the skewed camera on the television screens, the title cards listed in big font above the locations in some scenes) or off-putting (the usage of music is overbearing), his movie should be called the proverbial 'fair and balanced.' There are few issues in the world that ignites the firestorm of debate like Israel and Palestine land and peace talks (the abortion issue is right up there). Jimmy Carter placed himself into the pit of controversy a year and a half ago with his book "Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid", and director Demme does his best to reveal not simply Carter defending his points on various interview shows and programs, but to get the other side's voice as well. Carter isn't let off very easily, and rightfully so. But had Demme gone too far either way in depicting the reaction to the book, then the documentary would get damaged by the effect.
This might make Man From Plains seem slightly 'safe', but its strongest points are just revealing, without pushing a whole lot of stylistic fervor in the way, this man in his complexity, conflicts, resolve, and in his comfortable position as about as well-respected a ex-President one could ask for. He has a lot to boast about with some of his past accomplishments (some which we might forget as what he might have not done), but a lot of his output and speeches and very concise answers are based on experience. It's easy to pin down Carter as he's labeled- anti-Semitic, plagiarist- without either reading his book(s) or seeing what is really going on past the veneer of the media's depiction. Just seeing the interviewees (with some exceptions) repeating the named "apartheid" for incisive affect is enough to see what can be taken out of context.
Does this mean that Man From Plains reveals everything that could be about Carter on this book tour with the amount of depth one might hope for with an ex-president? Maybe not. But for what it's worth, Demme delivers two hours of potent coverage, and even creates a narrative around his detractors/protesters (i.e. rabbis/Dershowitz/Brandeis) that adds a little weight to what would otherwise be Demme's equivalent to Moore's the Big One. As a portrait and a compact look at a hot-button issue, it's very good if not mind-expanding. 7.5/10
This might make Man From Plains seem slightly 'safe', but its strongest points are just revealing, without pushing a whole lot of stylistic fervor in the way, this man in his complexity, conflicts, resolve, and in his comfortable position as about as well-respected a ex-President one could ask for. He has a lot to boast about with some of his past accomplishments (some which we might forget as what he might have not done), but a lot of his output and speeches and very concise answers are based on experience. It's easy to pin down Carter as he's labeled- anti-Semitic, plagiarist- without either reading his book(s) or seeing what is really going on past the veneer of the media's depiction. Just seeing the interviewees (with some exceptions) repeating the named "apartheid" for incisive affect is enough to see what can be taken out of context.
Does this mean that Man From Plains reveals everything that could be about Carter on this book tour with the amount of depth one might hope for with an ex-president? Maybe not. But for what it's worth, Demme delivers two hours of potent coverage, and even creates a narrative around his detractors/protesters (i.e. rabbis/Dershowitz/Brandeis) that adds a little weight to what would otherwise be Demme's equivalent to Moore's the Big One. As a portrait and a compact look at a hot-button issue, it's very good if not mind-expanding. 7.5/10
helpful•94
- Quinoa1984
- Apr 7, 2008
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $108,807
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $10,413
- Oct 28, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $119,263
- Runtime2 hours 5 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (2007) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer