I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people will not be familiar with Ai Weiwei. I know I wasn’t. Despite that, Alison Klayman’s Ai Weiwei documentary, Never Sorry, paints an extremely eye opening picture of the artist/political activist.

My first thought when I began the documentary is that I’m not really a huge art fan. The first piece we see is Ai Weiwei’s Grapes, a bunch of barstools cleaned up and nailed together in formation. That means absolutely nothing to me. As the doc rolls on though we hit upon the life of the activist, and from there on in I was glued.

What makes the documentary so amazing is the life of Weiwei. His Father was a poet and activist himself who would be imprisoned. His entire family forced into a re-education camp. Jump ahead years later and we find the man in America, studying abroad and seeing a whole new world. A world in which a country would put itself on trial (Iran Contra) and publicly air the courtroom antics and progress. Maybe it was that bit of freedom that helped to create the free spirited and seemingly unstoppable force that later became Ai Weiwei.

The Doc jumps back and forth in time revealing things about the man that I found interesting. For example, while being followed by the police in China he approaches them and asks them if they’re following him and even cusses them out. Or when he’s asked to go inside by the police during his crews dinner he says, “When were done.” One of the government reps from China says that the mere presence of Weiwei and his antics is proof that China has changed. That’s obviously up for debate.

What’s also fascinating about the doc is that it shows the man’s life as something of a small government in itself. He is a creator, but he gives the jobs to the people to assemble and shape. He is the fact finder that people flock to as volunteers. He’s a solitary man whose efforts big or small produce a democracy movement that reminds me of the saying, “Be the change you’d like to see in the world.” It’s inspiring. I highly suggest.

PICTURE QUALITY:
Unlike most documentaries Never Sorry avoids those poorly looking archives that tend to mare things. Mind you the use of several cameras in the doc do leave some sequences looking a little soft, but for the most part the picture is spot on. Even the old photographs seem touched up with an HD flare.

BOUNS FEATURES:
~Commentary
~Deleted Scenes
~Interviews
~Trailers