gavin6942
A documentary on the history of garlic. Les Blank interviews chefs, garlic lovers, and historians about the their love of the 'stinking rose.' The director recommends that, when the film is shown, a toaster oven containing several heads of garlic be turned on in the rear of the theater, unbeknownst to the audience, with the intended result that approximately halfway through the showing the entire theater will be filled with the smell of garlic.Les Blank is an interesting character. I think his finest work is when he went around America, collecting the sounds of various regions. Much of what he caught on film was groundbreaking, and the natural environments he found may no longer exist. His exploration of garlic is far less important, but interesting in a sort of offbeat way. It's amusing that he even managed to get Werner Herzog to talk about the lack of garlic in "Nosferatu".
Lee Eisenberg
Les Blank died recently, and so I decided that I'd watch his documentaries. The first one that I've ever watched is "Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers", which focuses entirely on Allium sativum. Blank interviews people about garlic and looks at its history. There's even a part about garlic's role in Cajun food, complete with a zydeco band! It's hard to believe that the Anglo Puritan types actually suppressed garlic, but's what happened in US history. Fortunately we in the 21st century love the stuff (I sure can't get enough of it). I now hope to see more of Blank's documentaries, and of course I'll never stop eating garlic. It's delicious AND nutritious! And above all, I recommend this documentary.
chord97-1
I saw this film in Seattle when it came out in 1981. A mindless, brain numbing waste of time. I recall one scene: pleasant close up of several piglets playing with each other, then WHAM! the same pigs slaughtered, and (you guessed it) baked or fried in garlic. DUMB and CRUEL. The bulk of the movie is pseudo science, and would be appropriate for a garlic peddler's convention. If you don't want to bother with thinking, or care about scientific research, and want to spout useless drivel, then this is the film for you. It belongs down the garbage disposal! I never liked the way garlic made people smell anyway. Don't waste your time on this loser.
craigjarcher
This movie was terrible. It had little useful information about garlic. For the majority of the film, it was just pointless interviews with random garlic-obsessed freaks. I mean, how are you supposed to take a guy seriously when he's wearing a hat shaped like a giant clove of garlic? And the idea of "pet garlic" (a plastic clove of garlic on the end of a stiff leash) proves that some people see very little of life. Not even the editing was done well. I had such a hard time trying to read the names of the interviewees printed on the screen. White text on a white background? If you want information on garlic, read an encyclopedia. If you are a garlic loving lunatic, check out this film.0.5/4 stars
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