Capturing The Friedmans
"Given that most filmmakers act as representatives of those they film or the institution sponsoring them rather than as community members, tensions often arise between the filmmaker's desire to make a compelling film and the individual's desire to have their social rights personal dignity respected" (Nichols, 2001, p.11). Nichols believes that ethics becomes the measure of the ways in which negotiations about the nature of the relations and considerations between filmmaker and subject impact on the three-way relationship between filmmaker, subject and viewer (Nichols, 2001).I agree with Nichols comments that all documentaries of any mode must make ethical considerations and that tensions surrounding these are articulated very differently across the various modes of documentary that are outlined in Nichols taxonomy, changing the power play that is present between filmmaker, subject and viewer. I have chosen the 'observational' film Don't Look Back (1967) and the 'interactive' film Capturing the Friedmans (2003). By outlining examples from the film in accordance with Bill Nichols' taxonomy of documentary modes, I endeavour to provide evidence that the different formal and stylistic choices in documentary filmmaking manifest d
Therefore I think the subject in this three-way relationship of the 'observational' style has predominant power. Despite the fact that he is deceased, I think he is the only subject that escapes the scrutiny and direction of Andrew Jarecki. The film has a fragmented, unfinished quality that is reflected through the sound quality, the 'grainy and wobbly' characteristics, and the overall authenticity of a film that is simply an observation of the subject (Nichols, 1996, p. In Don't look back I think Pennebaker not only chose Bob Dylan for his substance, but also because he carries a sense of awareness of the camera, the media and how he is perceived. This feeling in itself is quite empowering. The main subject in the criminal investigation Arnold Friedman is the reference point in most of the family super 8 footage, the family photographs and especially in all of the interviews conducted by Jarecki. The film has been referred to as a promotional 'rockementary', in that it is presented like a travelogue of an infamous, influential musician and world identity on tour throughout England. 43), in the sense that I was excited and convinced that I was getting backstage tickets to an aspect of Bob Dylan's life. With this criminal case we are left as members of a community to cast our own judgements about guilt. I like the films style of incorporating the family super 8 footage as a display of the family meltdown and the series of secrets and questions that arise. In the case of Capturing the Friedmans I think Jarecki does tamper with the truth of his encounter with all the subjects and the content made available to him. I do however think that Pennebaker stretched his moral role of observer to present Bob Dylan as superior to all other subjects in the social formations presented in the film. It is obvious that Arnold was a very private person however I feel as though Jarecki was more selective than he needed to be in portraying Arnold Friedman's life.
Common topics in this essay:
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,
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Acceptance Essays
