Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 (2016) User Reviews

Title Is Misleading, but I Didn't Care in the End

[stu-00329 · 7/10 · 23 February 2017]

"Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405" is not about Los Angeles traffic. It's 40-minute documentary short about a mentally ill artist, her past and how her work with cartoons and sculpture helped her break out of her shell.

I can't fault the misdirection in the title because the description above probably would not have lured me into the theater. Were that the case, I would have missed out on a surprisingly compelling portrait of a woman who has persevered on the edge of sanity.

"Mindy Alper is a tortured and brilliant 56-year-old artist who is represented by one of Los Angeles' top galleries. Acute anxiety, mental disorder and devastating depression have caused her to be committed to mental institutions, undergo electroshock therapy and survive a 10-year period without the ability to speak," writes Director Frank Stiefel in his summary. "Her hyper self- awareness has allowed her to produce a lifelong body of work that expresses her emotional state with powerful psychological precision."

During a Q&A following a screening at the Sedona International Film Festival, Stiefel explained that he met Alper when she was his wife's art school classmate. I commend him for recognizing an opportunity and delivering a fascinating story. Check out this film if you have the opportunity.

The artist makes the picture

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 16 March 2018]

Frank Stiefel's "Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405" is a 40-minute documentary released back in 2016 already and now 1.5 years later, this take on Mindy Alper won the Best Documentary Short Oscar. it is about a pretty creative, pretty talented woman, who is full of demons though and fights all kinds of psychological issues as well as the shadows of her past when it comes to her family. I think it was a good watch and overall, while it may not have been the best documentary short I've seen recently, it was still a fairly decent work and I don't mind the win. I think the film profits enough from how likable the protagonist is and how you as an audience member really want her to succeed and be happy. Maybe this was also the reason that gave it the edge eventually over all the other nominees. Or maybe it was the title, perhaps the strangest from all the Oscar winners this year, maybe from all the nominees even and it makes you wonder what the background story there is. The one thing taht kept me from enjoying this one even more is that i do not have a creative background or at least not a creative background similar to the one from the person this is about. If you do, then maybe you will enjoy this film even more, or of course if you struggle from some of the same problems like Alper does because you can just make more of a personal connection with here, even if you may be only half her age. But the message how important it is to create for your inner happiness is one that I can 100% agree with and it somewhat makes me happy to see her somehow succeed eventually, even if with a woman like her and her problems you never know how long this positivity will last. Another uplifting aspect here is how authentic the film really feels and I never had the impression that any of it was fake or scripted in a misleading and falsifying way. So yeah that's an Oscar-winning movie I recommend checking out. thumbs up!

Amazing Life Portrait of an Artist Suffering From Mental Illness

[apollack11 · 10/10 · 13 February 2018]

This is an amazing and intimate portrait of an artist, Mindy Alper, who has suffered from life-long mental illness. I was mesmerized throughout, listening to the interviews, the life history, interactions with family and friends, the serious struggles, the impacts upon her life, and how art, those in the art world, and those in the mental health profession, have helped to give her some modicum of joy in an otherwise depressing life. Interwoven into the film is her art, and it interacts perfectly with her state of mind. Even the way Alper speaks, and her pronunciations of words, was utterly unique. Instead of "when I was 19," she would say, "when I was one-nine." Instead of saying 10 years, she would say "after ten times around the sun." And once you watch the film, you will understand why. If I had a vote, I would choose this to win the Oscar.

Wonderful,honest, pure life portrait

[call_me_shabnam · 9/10 · 16 October 2018]

This is one the most wonderful documentary I have ever seen. Strong and powerful. The way Dear Mindy Alper, explains about her life, the way she expresses how much she suffered and how much she was honest with herself, is a wow. Her differences, her view, her art, her heart and many unique things in her, just amazed me. I admire her tries, efforts, that she puts into expressing her life and herself. I recommend every body, to watch this doc, and to notice how enjoyable could be life, if one could learn how to live just herself\himself based on the abilities. her artworks are not just art. To me, they are much more than just art because I found life and soul in them.

Amazing

[angular-35205 · 10/10 · 13 February 2019]

At our Oscar party the random invitees who were just there for the company seemed dumbstruck at our jumping up and down, cheering and shouting, when this wonderful, touching, beautifully painful yet uplifting movie won. I try to see every Oscar nominated movie every year (I usually only miss a few) and this is easily one of my favorites, EVER! By the end of its screening I think the whole theatre was in tears.