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A Certain Kind of Death

Play trailer Poster for A Certain Kind of Death 2003 1h 9m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Through interviews with various Los Angeles County morgue employees who calmly confront death on a daily basis, as well as actual scenes of corpses being worked on, this documentary examines what happens to the bodies of people who do not have family or friends to manage a funeral or cremation. The movie unflinchingly and starkly details how bodies are found and processed at the coroner's office, and shows what happens to a person's belongings afterward and how corpses are cremated.

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Pablo Villaça Cinema em Cena Um olhar detalhado e curioso sobre uma jornada burocrtica e mrbida. Rated: 4/5 Sep 11, 2006 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Bill Gibron DVD Verdict Instantly taking its place in the canon of stirring, seminal documentaries, A Certain Kind of Death is destined to be remembered... Rated: 95/100 Jul 5, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A strange documentary that visits the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. Rated: B- Jan 17, 2005 Full Review Joshua Tanzer Offoffoff It's just like 'C.S.I.' only without the stars, without the glamour, without evil geniuses, cat-and-mouse games and chases. In short, without the 'C.' Rated: 3/4 Feb 5, 2004 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Mar 23, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Absolutely stunning movie. The makers of the film are never heard from themselves, but the visual story telling work is wonderful. Not for the faint of heart but definitely worth the watch Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting... lol!! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Death is all too often hidden from us in today's world. Here's a bunch of cameras aiming to resolve that. This is what documentaries are all about- cameras and the truth, whether it's what we want to see or not. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Obviously low budget, but with great pacing and some utterly shocking moments and imagery, A Certain Kind Of Death is crude and unbiased in its portrayal of what happens to the deceased who are not claimed by their families, and it leaves the viewer thoughtful and haunted by the shocking and srangely interesting process. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member La muerte es un tema que la mayoría de las personas prefiere ignorar. A pesar de que todos la experimentaremos tarde o temprano, es algo que resulta hasta tabú discutir. En A Certain Kind of Death no existe ningún tapujo en mostrar la realidad. El tema de la muerte es tocado con total naturalidad y a veces con poca empatía. Este documental habla de personas que al morir no tienen a alguien quien se ocupe de los arreglos para un funeral o cualquier otra decisión, por lo tanto estos detalles quedan a manos del estado. Este es un tema que nunca se me había pasado por la cabeza porque uno asume que siempre tendrá a personas en su vida al morir, pero a veces este no es el caso. Miles de personas terminan siendo cremadas, y si sus restos no son reclamados después de varios años, son enterrados junto a cientos de otras personas en una tumba común sin nombre. Es una realidad deprimente, pero que conlleva un nivel de organización impresionante para las personas que trabajan en este rubro. Me llamó la atención también lo rutinario que es para ellos todo este proceso, especialmente para las personas que recogen los cuerpos. Normalmente estas personas llevan muertas en sus casas semanas antes de ser encontradas, lo cual lleva a situaciones bastante desagradables en cuanto a higiene, pero cuando las personas que se encargan de recogerlos hacen su trabajo, pareciera que no les afecta. Me imagino que no es la primera vez que lo hacen, y se terminan acostumbrando. A Certain Kind of Death es un documental franco acerca de la muerte. Varias imágenes de cadáveres son mostradas, lo cual no me esperaba, pero le dan una cara macabra a esta realidad, y hasta se normaliza después de un tiempo. Un aspecto que encontré problemático fue justamente esto. Estas imágenes son mostradas sin autorización ya que estas personas fallecidas no tienen a nadie con quien contar, por lo tanto me pareció incómodo e inapropiado. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member An amazing document. Reveals a whole parallel world. Absolutely riveting. A bit depressing, but it is comforting to know that the deceased depicted in the film are so well looked after once they pass to the other side. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Certain Kind of Death

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Movie Info

Synopsis Through interviews with various Los Angeles County morgue employees who calmly confront death on a daily basis, as well as actual scenes of corpses being worked on, this documentary examines what happens to the bodies of people who do not have family or friends to manage a funeral or cremation. The movie unflinchingly and starkly details how bodies are found and processed at the coroner's office, and shows what happens to a person's belongings afterward and how corpses are cremated.
Director
Grover Babcock, Blue Hadaegh
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 9m