Capturing the Friedmans - a disturbing image of suburban america disassembled for everyone to see; and the hyper reactionary community who makes true justice impossible to find. When the word "pedophile" is mentioned, is there any way to see the light? What could have been a forgettable documentary about
clowns, literally turned on its head when a subject of the filmmakers movie revealed the story about how his family was torn apart. What seals the deal to make this a classic, is that during the whole process of this families trial and subsequent years of abuse, one of the sons is intensely filming every moment of family tension and arguments, creating a portrait unmatched in documentary film.
Grey Gardens - A story of eccentricity taken to the extreme. Big Edie and Little Edie are aunt and first cousin to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. They removed themselves from society, and lived in horrible conditions. Fascinating stuff.
Dark Days - Heartbreaking image of the moles of New York; i.e. the forgotten homeless who have made their homes in boxes and in the dark caverns of the old railways under the city. A constant fight for survival, the film is also a perfect image of a documentarian's obsession with his subject: consumed by editing his film, he actually became homeless himself in the process. A frightening, almost dystopian vision of society... only it's
real.
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills - Following the trials of three boys accused of brutal ritual murder and sexual mutilation, its main characters are so plainly innocent that the hole in the justice system created almost forms a black hole of horror. The real winner is the town itself, which comes off far worse than the boys accused of this crime... a small town ruined by ignorance and fear. The biggest surprise comes when we meet Mark Byers, a stepfather of one of the victims, who does everything but turn himself into the police to admit his crimes. And yet, due to the narrow vision of the police and prosecutor this obvious suspect is all but ignored. Tragic.
