Grass (1999)

Director:

Ron Mann

Writer:

Solomon Vesta (writer)

Release Date:

14 July 2000 (Spain)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

The history of the American government's war on marijuana in the 20th century.

Plot Keywords:

Marijuana | Government | Drugs | Anti Communist | Myth

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Woody Harrelson	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry J. Anslinger	...	Himself (archive footage)
George Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cab Calloway	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jimmy Carter	...	Himself (archive footage)
Chevy Chase	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tommy Chong	...	Anthony 'Man' Stoner (archive footage)
Nancy Davis	...	Herself (archive footage)
Dwight D. Eisenhower	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gerald Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jerry Garcia	...	Himself (archive footage)
Allen Ginsberg	...	Himself (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gene Krupa	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fiorello LaGuardia	...	Himself (archive footage)
Timothy Leary	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Lennon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cheech Marin	...	Pedro De Pacas (archive footage)
Gertrude Michael	...	Herself (archive footage)
Robert Mitchum	...	Himself (archive footage)
Richard Nixon	...	Himself (archive footage)
Yoko Ono	...	Herself (archive footage)
Eli Perell	...	Additional Voices
Josh Perell	...	Additional Voices
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Harry S. Robins	...	(voice)
John Sinclair	...	Himself (archive footage)
Douglass Smith	...	(voice)
Stephanie Zari	...	(voice)

Directed by
Ron Mann

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Solomon Vesta		writer

Produced by
Keith Clarkson	....	executive producer
Marc Glassman	....	associate producer
Sue Len Quon	....	co-producer
Ron Mann	....	producer

Original Music by
Guido Luciani

Cinematography by
Robert Fresco

Film Editing by
Robert Kennedy

Art Direction by
Paul Mavrides

Sound Department
Keith Elliott	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mishann Lau	....	dialogue editor
Rosnick MacKinnon	....	sound
Andy Malcolm	....	foley artist
Tom Trafalski	....	sound designer

Visual Effects by
David Biedny	....	digital rendering
Dave Salter	....	animation cameraman
Mark Tureski	....	optical effects (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Steve Franko	....	colorist
Sue Len Quon	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Bob Casale	....	music producer: "Quit Playing Games with God"
Robert Kennedy	....	music editor
Elliott Lefko	....	music consultant
Guido Luciani	....	conductor
Guido Luciani	....	orchestrator
Herwig Maurer	....	composer: song "Dope Dreams"
Mike Rosnick	....	score producer
Ted Rosnick	....	score producer

Other crew
Craig Baines	....	researcher
Simon St. Laurent	....	opticals: Film Opticals
Maury Whyte	....	graphics coordinator

Production Companies

• Sphinx Productions

Distributors

• Films Transit International
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (USA) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films (Canada)
• Madman Entertainment (2001) (Australia) (DVD)
• Nowonmedia (2005) (Japan) (DVD)
• Unapix Entertainment Productions (2000) (USA)

Other Companies

• Deluxe Post-Production  post-production facilities
• Film Effects  opticals

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for drug content

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:M | USA:R

Company:

Sphinx Productions

Trivia:

Woody Harrelson narrated this documentary for free.

Movie Connections:

Features Marijuana (1968)

Soundtrack:

Illegal Smile

USA vs Cannabis, and i don't think the yanks are winning!

Woody Harrelson narrates on a very interesting and highly informative documentary on the history of US law and drug policy regarding the highly controversial substance cannabis. Highly entertaining and witty with a vast collection of clips and videotapes of politicians, musicians and pot parties. Yet again, the US government has egg on its face as the amount of money spent on the war on marijuana rises, along with the amount of people using it. Exposing some of the blatant ignoring of government reports and findings, Grass moves along a good pace and doesn't get too carried away at any point with statements of how great cannabis, mostly just the facts. However, there is a lot more to the plant that has obviously not been included, as the film focuses around the efforts made by the US government only, and not cannabis as a whole.

Definitely an interesting film, with lots to learn from it, but by no means the definitive word on cannabis.