Documentary Now!

Good evening.

I'm Helen Mirren,

and you're watching Documentary Now!

For the past 50 years,

Documentary Now! has presented audiences

with the world's most thought-provoking cinema.

This season, to celebrate our golden anniversary,

we take a look back at the films

that helped shape, change, and innovate

the world of documentary.

Filmmakers Larry and Abraham Fein

believed the key to crafting a documentary

was to observe, not to direct.

In 1975, they observed the world

of Big Vivvy and Little Vivvy Van Kimpton

in the seminal classic, Sandy Passage.

Vivvy.

Mother!

Vivvy.

Vivvy.

Where are you?

I'm downstairs!

Vivvy, the raccoon's back.

Well, stop feeding it!

I don't feed it.

That's the whole reason it comes back

is 'cause you feed it.

Get out!

Get out, raccoon.

Get out of here.

Don't feed it!

Get out!

Oh, sure, it's... you know, it's a gorgeous town,

but mother and I, we know the ugly part,

the underbelly, and it's...

You know, it's sad.

They harass us because they don't agree with our politics.

You know, they're sending the police

to tell us the house isn't up to code

and there are health violations, but it's just harassment.

That's all it is. It's just harassment.

There they are.

Hello, Larry.

Hi.

Hello, Alfred.

You boys look very, very handsome, very healthy today.

- Thank you. - How we doing?

- Doing great. - Oh, good.

- Yeah, beautiful day. - It is beautiful.

You look very pretty. You look...

- Oh. Thank you. - Tell us about your outfit.

Um, this here is a skirt that I safety pin on.

And if I want, I can make it a cape.

And this...

what this is is that I take sweatpants,

and I wrap them around my head.

This is what I do in the fall,

because it is a...

um, it's very practical as a built-in scarf.

But I'll tell you,

mother doesn't like it.

Mother doesn't like it at all.

Yeah, let me show you the garden.

Planted some bean sprouts right there,

and, uh, some tomatoes over there.

And...

It all died.

Nothing really grows here.

It's so sad.

Looks great, David.

That's David.

He tends the garden.

Oh, Alfred.

I have some photos for you.

Look how beautiful my mother was.

Look at this.

See how beautiful she is?

This is from a famous photographer

named Emil LaRue.

Oh. Oh, here's a painting.

Beautiful painting of Mother.

Look at this.

Can you believe this?

Who painted this, Mother?

George Wellfeather.

George Wellfeather.

Isn't that gorgeous?

This is a sketch that someone did

of Mother at a... at a carnival.

Isn't that nice?

She's on roller skates.

And there's a plane skywriting "Big Vivvy."

And, um...

She can't really roller skate, though.

Look at that. Isn't she beautiful?

I used to roller skate all around the rink.

Isn't she beautiful?

This is a police sketch of Mom.

- Put that away. - That, um...

- Put that down. - Shh! Shh!

Her top fell off while she was walking down the street...

Vivvy, put that away.

And this mother and children...

I didn't realize it had fallen off.

They gave descriptions of Mom to the police,

and the guy did a wonderful job.

Look at that.

It doesn't look anything like me.

Looks beautiful. Looks just like you.

I'm gonna show you

one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Look at this.

We have our own stage.

Isn't it beautiful?

This is where I first learned to dance.

I have memories of...

Vivvy!

Oh, my god. That's it. Go, go, go.

She went all the way through.

Vivvy.

What did you do?

What happened?

I fell through the floor again.

It's because you stomp.

I don't stomp!

I'm always telling you.

You got floor all in my Lima beans.

The whole house is gonna come down.

- I'm all right. - You okay?

Yeah, I'm okay.

It's because you stomp.

I don't stomp.

Look at that.

So that is where I learned to dance.

- My knee is really... - What about the floor?

I'll get to the floor!

That rat's dead.

There's a dead rat over there.

So sad.

Hi, Barry.

Do you have my corn?

Barry gets our groceries for us.

We don't know what we would do without Barry.

So good to us, Barry.

Barry, you could take that down into the kitchen.

- Thank you, Barry. - All right.

Thank you.

It's very awkward

with Barry.

Why is it awkward with Barry?

You know, because...

he wants to have sex with me.

- No, he doesn't. - He's attracted...

Yes, he does.

Mother never believed that I have suitors.

I have many suitors.

And... but she chases them all away, don't you?

I don't chase anyone away.

You chase everybody. You go and chase people away.

- I don't chase anybody away. - Who?

Stephen St. Regis?

Stephen St. Regis.

I have a picture of Stephen St. Regis.

He's a beautiful boy.

Stephen St...

Not this album.

We don't look in this album.

Stephen St. Regis.

He's in another one.

There he is. Look.

Stephen St. Regis. Beautiful boy.

And he loved me.

She invited him to dinner,

and then she blacked out.

I took the wrong prescription!

A prescription never calls for a handful of pills.

See what I have to deal with?

See what I have to deal with?

Every day I have to deal with this.

Okay, you little monsters.

Here you go.

Here you go.

There's your cornfiakes.

Eat up, you little... little jerk.

Here you go.

Eat up.

Eat up.

Eat up, you little monster.

You want something too?

How do I look?

Oh, hello, Officers.

- How are you? - Miss Van Kimpton.

Wondering if we could have a word

with you and your mother.

You know, I'm so tired of this constant harassment.

I mean, what is it, our... our... our roof not up to code?

Is our septic tank overflowing?

No, that's not why we're here.

But your septic tank is overflowing.

Deputy.