I have watched a few interesting documentaries during this long weekend and I want to share with you what I think of them.
Gobekli Tepe
This documentary is called “The Cradle of the Gods” on Disney Plus. It’s about an ancient site in Turkey called Gobekli Tepe. The discovery of Gobekli Tepe, according to the documentary, turned what we thought we understood about human history and civilizations on its head. Before this discovery, we thought agriculture was the catalyst for religion and arts. Once people settled down and had more food produced and stored, they could finally have time and security to think about and develop religion.
Not in the case of Gobekli Tepe. The site consists of many structures on top of a steep hill that are made of stones weighing dozens or hundreds of tons. What makes Gobekli Tepe interesting is that scientists estimate the structures were made around the end of the last Ice Age, when humans were still hunters and gatherers, and there was no language, metal tools or even wheels to help move supremely heavy stones up the hill. Yet, the structures were still miraculously built. Scientists’ theory for why people, thousands of years ago, went through all that trouble to build the structure is that they want to have a place to celebrate their belief: humans are superior to savage animals. Such a belief banded hunters and gatherers together to achieve a monumental feat. Later, they settled on the lands at the bottom of the hill and started their journey towards agriculture and an early stage of civilization.
The theory proposed by scientists who discovered Gobekli Tepe meant that religion came before agriculture, not the other way around, at least in this case. I think it’s a fascinating documentary. Fortunately, it seems you can watch it on YouTube in full here:
The Lost City of Machu Picchu
Another documentary on Disney Plus is called “The Lost City of Machu Picchu”, featuring arguably the most intact archaeological site of the Inca. The Inca rule in South America in the 1400s and 1500s lasted only 100 years and was full of mysteries before it was brutally ended by the Spanish conquerors. The Spaniards destroyed every Inca city that they invaded, yet somehow Machu Picchu wasn’t discovered and fortunately survived. More than 100 years ago, an explorer named Hiram Bingham came across Machu Picchu and wrote a piece published on National Geographic about what he thought was the purpose of Machu Picchu.
What the scientists in this documentary found out; however, largely debunked Bingham’s theory. Moreover, they went in details on what builders did several hundred years ago to construct this monumental site. Machu Picchu was built on a treacherous ground. First of all, it’s on top of a mountain ridge; which poses a tremendous challenge in bringing heavy stones up from quarry sites nearby. Secondly and more importantly, Machu Picchu site has a lot of rain during the year. Without a sophisticated drainage system, the soil would have been eroded and the stones would have been washed away. By digging into the ground at Machu Picchu, the scientists learned about a magnificent construction feat by the Inca builders that not only effectively carries rain water away from the site and keep the soil from being eroded, but also directs drinkable water throughout the small city for allegedly a thousand inhabitants.
It blows my mind to watch the documentary and see how the Inca people made such an engineering and architecture achievement without sophisticated tools that we have nowadays. If you are interested in the Inca and Macu Picchu, you should check it out
All or Nothing on Tottenham
If you are a football/soccer fan, you’ll likely enjoy this one. The documentary chronicled the last season at Tottenham Hotspur, one of the biggest clubs in London and England in general. The Amazon Prime crew was given exclusive access to the players, the coaches, the manager, the Head of Recruitment, the staff, the Chairman and so on. They even secured permission to be present in some of the most sensitive conversations at a football club. For instance, viewers could see the conversation between Chairman Daniel Levy and Manager Jose Mourinho on Christian Eriksen, who had had only a few months on his contract and been on his way out of the club. Audience could also listen to a candid exchange between the manager and Dany Rose, who had been at the club for 12 years and demanded to play or he would prefer to leave; which he did.
There are a few things that fascinate me. First, the filming crew had to be very aware of the situations they were in. Imagine that as a manager, you were about to have a tough conversation with your players during half time and your team was down. I can imagine having someone else film the whole thing could be very irritating. Hence, the ability to blend in situations without being a disruption or annoyance is pretty admirable.
Second, as I mentioned above, the crew recorded some highly confidential and sensitive conversations at the club. There must have been a great deal of trust and professionalism between the club and the production crew. Otherwise, the whole thing would have been a catastrophe. Imagine what would have happened if the names of starting players for an important match had been leaked or transfer issues had been improperly disclosed to the press.
Third, the documentary, which has new episodes every week, pulls the curtain on what goes on behind the scenes at a football club: how they are treated physically, the training, the process before a match, the team hurdle, the psychological change, the struggle with injuries and so on. For me as a football fan, I am highly fascinated what I have seen so far. It’s available on Amazon Prime, you really should check it out.
Minh Quang Duong 