Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox main poster

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox

Visit website

6.9/10 • 8

2007-06-291h 28m

Documentary

A documentary about obsession, compassion and all-purpose soap.

A human story about a socially responsible company, “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox” documents the complicated family legacy behind the counterculture’s favorite cleaning product — Bronner’s son, 68-year-old Ralph, endured over 15 orphanages and foster homes as a child, but despite difficult memories, is his father’s most ardent fan.

Directors
Sara Lamm

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Dr. Bronner

    Dr. Bronner

    Himself

Reviews1

View Reviews
CRCulver Avatar

CRCulver

Sep 6, 2018

7/10

DR BRONNER'S MAGIC SOAPBOX is a documentary on the life and thought of Emmanuel Bronner (1908-1997), the German immigrant who made the soap popular with 1960s counter-culture and now alternative people everywhere. Dr. Bronner infamously covered his soap labels with rambling statements in tiny print, preaching the unity of mankind in an "all-one-god religion". This is an individual with a fascinating story, well worth a documentary film. He left Germany before the Holocaust (in which his parents perished), worked as a chemist before being hospitalized in Elgin Asylum, and escaped to California to set up the now-famous soap brand. In the 1940s, he had two sons which grew up in foster care, since their father considered his spiritual calling much more important than a couple of children. Jim and Ralph eventually reconciled with their father and inherited the company. Filmmaker Sara Lamm has assembled video footage of Dr. Bronner and carried out interviews with his employees and acquaintances, as well as everyday Americans who love his soap. She also follows Ralph (the current owner of the company) as he travels the country, telling stories about his father and turning people on to Dr. Bronner's Soap. While other interviews focus on Dr. Bronner's history of mental illness, Ralph speaks of his father as an eccentric and perennial non-comformist. Ralph has also tried to emulate his father's sense of idealism, albeit not his religious ideals, and some attention is given to his philantrophic endeavours. It is heartwarming that this head of a multi-million dollar business is so ready to help those he encounters, but I feel that there's too much attention on Ralph's kindness to people in the street, and insufficient attention to the structure of the company. Ralph mentions in passing that it's something of a cooperative endeavour, but we don't really get details. Still, except for that quibble, I enjoyed this film greatly. It certainly puts the bizarre labels on the bottles into perspective, and makes you muse on the thin line between incapacitating madness and an eccentricity that still spurs a man on to great things.

Media

  • Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox poster

Recommendations

  • Prospect main backdrop

    Prospect

    6.2

  • ParaNorman main backdrop

    ParaNorman

    7.0

  • Super Size Me main backdrop

    Super Size Me

    6.7

  • No Backdrop

    To Get to Heaven First, You Have to Die

    5.3

  • Apollo's New Moon main backdrop

    Apollo's New Moon

    6.5

  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie main backdrop

    The Super Mario Bros. Movie

    7.6

  • Oppenheimer main backdrop

    Oppenheimer

    8.1

  • Last Night in Soho main backdrop

    Last Night in Soho

    7.3

  • Society of the Snow main backdrop

    Society of the Snow

    8.0

  • Joker main backdrop

    Joker

    8.1

  • The Flash main backdrop

    The Flash

    6.7

  • Ghosted main backdrop

    Ghosted

    6.9

  • Alienoid: Return to the Future main backdrop

    Alienoid: Return to the Future

    6.6

  • Nightmare Alley main backdrop

    Nightmare Alley

    7.0

  • Anatomy of a Fall main backdrop

    Anatomy of a Fall

    7.5

  • Interstellar main backdrop

    Interstellar

    8.5

  • Finch main backdrop

    Finch

    7.9

  • Avatar: The Way of Water main backdrop

    Avatar: The Way of Water

    7.6

  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings main backdrop

    Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

    7.5

  • Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire main backdrop

    Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

    6.5

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
$18.00
Keywords
woman director