Documentary a soap opera on soap
Published 5:25 pm Thursday, August 16, 2007
A feature-length documentary about a soap and its eccentric maker might sound like overkill, but not so in the case of “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox.” This movie comes clean on the subject of a cult product and counterculture phenomenon.
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, a refreshing, all-natural liquid cleanser, has been on the shelves since 1947, attracting fans with its tingly effect and its eccentric, verbose packaging. It was the brainchild of one Emanuel Bronner, a full-time kook and self-appointed prophet of global spiritual salvation.
Filmmaker Sara Lamm found copious footage of Dr. Bronner, who died in 1997, endlessly talking about his life and his vision. It was quite a life: escape from the Holocaust in Germany, institutionalization in a Chicago insane asylum, escape from same institution, and finally the establishment of a soap empire.
The film doesn’t skimp on Bronner’s faults, which included gross neglect of his children (although his two sons, also interviewed for the film, followed in the company business). The doctor was also given to endless nattering about his teachings (“The Moral ABC”) and the threat of global communism.
Also something about Halley’s Comet and Mark Spitz, the Olympic swimmer – it gets a little heady.
Lamm also touches on the appeal of Dr. Bronner’s soap to the ’60s counterculture, particularly with film clips from “Rainbow Bridge,” a truly groovy film artifact of the times.
We trail around in the wake of Ralph Bronner, Emanuel’s surviving son, who carries on the tradition of good-hearted proselytizing. He carries on more than that, too: The soap company is environmentally responsible, fiscally modest, and gives away 70 percent of its profits to charities.
It’s hard to tell at times whether Ralph has his own vision or is simply a damaged child (albeit 68 years old) justifying his father’s neglect by repeating the intricacies of his dad’s zany ideas. Whichever it is, it makes for an absorbing story.
