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I've been sitting on this for a while, hoping that the glut of blockbuster topics would wane. Not that I'm excusing myself - to my shame, I've been a willing participant. But I can stay silent no longer. I've wanted to shout to the world that Capturing The Friedmans is the best movie I've seen in years, and now is the time.
(Granted, OK, it doesn't seem to be out in the UK yet.)
This blows Bowling For Critical Praise to pieces. Why? Because the filmmaker, Andrew Jarecki, isn't interested in demonstrating how fabulous his point of view is, nor his cleverness. Instead, he's collected a shitload of info on a highly flammable topic, then taken a couple steps back with a quiet look on his face that says, 'Ok, what do you make of this?'
So. The topic. On Long Island in 1987, a man (Arnold Friedman) teaching computer classes for teenage boys was accused of sexually assaulting his students, assisted by his teenage son (Jesse Friedman). The director discovered this story while interviewing Jesse's brother David for a documentary about clowns in NYC. (David is perhaps the city's most successful clown.) Both Friedmans pled guilty, but the charges against them were unreasonable to say the least, and as interviews with all involved attest, everyone had an opinion before hearing the facts. The film is made more complex by the inclusion of home video shot by David while the ordeal was taking place.
There seems to be little question that something might have happened, but what, exactly? The 'justice' in this case was limp and ill-gained at best, if it was even required. Nearly every major facet of humanity is on display, in each character. Jarecki wins high praise (except from Kenneth Turan of the LA Times) for standing back and letting the story tell itself. He does have a perceptible bias, but it's not one that overwhelms your own line of questioning about these events. It's riveting, and I left my first screening with more questions than any other film has raised.
Don't be a Studio Stooge. See this. See it twice, and make your friends see it. Talk about it. Rent Rashomon, splice the two together, eat some brownies and wonder how humanity can be so wonderful when we're also such shit. Then go to bed.
(A panoply of reviews available here. That's right - a panoply.) |
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