the view of a historian

datank2

After reading some of the comments here on IMDB, I was really intrigued about seeing Capturing the Friedmans.  However, shortly into the film my training as a historian kicked in.  Now, I am no film critic, nevertheless, I have studied documentary film making, and as a historian I must warn those that view this film that the documentarian's methodology is a bit sketchy. If you saw the film in the theater, then you missed the discussion sessions included in the special features of the DVD.  Here it is revealed, by those involved in the investigation (judge, detectives, lawyers) that many important details were left out of the movie:  the three other adults accused of sexual misconduct associated with the case, that Arnold confessed and gave police the names of the children he had abused so they could interview them, that Jesse went on Geraldo (against the advise of his lawyer - and a signed affidavit declaring as such) and confessed to the American public that he has been abused by Arnold, that the private investigator never contacted the Great Neck police and never reviewed first hand the evidence of the case - and much more stuff that when left out of the documentary skews the viewers perception of the case and creates a false context.  This is irresponsible on the part of the documentarian - and altogether bad history.

Here is the big question:  What was it about the case that made Jesse confess, and why was his mother pushing it so hard?  The documentarian should have grappled with this.  It would seem to me that a trail would have been in the best favor for Jesse - since a great deal of what he was accused of seems so unrealistic - given the lack of physical evidence.  However, there must have been something else, something that the prosecution had that would have damaged the defense's case.  This must have motivated Jesse's mother to push for the plea bargain - it must have saved time, money, and years on Jesse's sentence.  But the documentarian gives us no glimpse into that, and take away aspects of the case, and is completely irresponsible as a documentarian.

Do I believe Jesse is guilty?  Yes.  In the footage of the Judge addressing a crowd during the Q&A at the Great Neck premiere of the video, she makes a pretty convincing case that Jesse's new claim to innocence is retrospective back peddling - and don't even get me started about David.

So, this is just a bit of what I think about Capturing the Friedmans.  Let me know what you all think.

score /10

datank2 4 April 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0907965/