Commune (2005)

A documentary on the Black Bear Ranch Commune, an alternative living community founded in 1968 in the remote North Californian wilderness.

Director:

Jonathan Berman

Writer:

Jonathan Berman

Stars:

Larry Bacon, Harriet Beinfeld, Hoss Bennett

Cast

Credited cast:
Larry Bacon	...	Himself - Public Defender
Harriet Beinfeld	...	Herself
Hoss Bennett	...	Himself - Neighbor
Allegra Brucker	...	Herself - Geba's Daughter
Peter Coyote	...	Himself
Geba Greenberg	...	Herself
Catherine Guerra	...	Herself
Creek Hanauer	...	Himself
Tesilya Hanauer	...	Herself
Efrem Korngold	...	Himself
Mel Kramer	...	Himself - Local Resident
Peter Leaf	...	Himself
Martin Linhart	...	Himself
Aaron Marley	...	Himself
Elsa Marley	...	Herself

Storyline

In the late 1960s, a few free thinkers cobbled together donations, primarily from Hollywood, to buy 80 acres at the end of a dirt road in Siskiyou County, California: Big Bear Ranch, a commune with the motto "free land for free people." Archival footage, photographs, documents and news articles, and interviews with people who lived or still live there tell the commune's history: the cold first winter, women and men doing the same work, communal decision making, emerging environmental politics, free love and family formation, child rearing and memories of growing up there, a late 70's crisis with a cult-like group that moved in, and assessment by those grown old of what Big Bear meant.

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Plot Keywords:

commune | free love | winter | memory | california | 

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Taglines:

Peace and love are only half the story.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

To koinovio

Filming Locations:

Albany, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Five Points Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Summer '68 (1969)

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Soundtracks

"The Ballad of Cedar and Mahaj"
Written and Performed by Cedar Seeger
CedarSongs, BMI

User Reviews

Sounds fascinating; unfortunately I'll never know

The comments for Commune make it sound like a very interesting film, one that I would be deeply interested in. Unfortunately, the producers didn't see fit to include closed captions for the hearing impaired and deaf. That leaves me and countless others like me, who depend on closed captions to follow a movie, completely out.

This is inexcusable for any film produced in the year 2005. In a world where all manner of handicaps and disabilities are accommodated, it's infuriating and ironic that the ever sanctimonious entertainment industry fails to demand that all productions and movie theaters be closed captioned.