Film Pulse Review: Bending Steel

The thing about documentary films that makes them so special is learning about new and interesting things you wouldn’t normally think are interesting. In comes Bending Steel, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and is currently screening at Hot Docs 2013. The film takes a look at the practice of the oldetime strongman by following the life of amateur steel bender Chris Schoeck as he attempts to take his talents pro.

There seems to be a lot of documentaries popping up over the last few years that center on groups of people that have strange or interesting hobbies or professions. In order for these stories to be successful the key is to have interesting an endearing subjects and focus the film on them rather than solely on what they do. This is the case with Bending Steel and it’s what makes the film work.[...]