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A loveless marriage between a paedophile and a woman who, having had three sons, loses her identity was bound to end in trouble. But the more we learn about this sorry family, the less we're sure what to feel about them. One minute they are the victims of a vindictive world, the next they are so utterly reprehensible that they deserve everything that befalls them.
Though he outwardly presents his story in a matter-of-fact manner, Jarecki manipulates emotions by repeatedly pulling the rug from beneath the viewer, revelation by contradictory revelation. His compelling film raises more questions than it answers and is less concerned with the mechanics of the case and the American legal system than what it says about the Friedmans and the society they inhabit.
With physical evidence being non-existent, Arnold and Jesse Friedman provide more convincing testimony against themselves than any of their accusers victims, neighbours or lawfolk. But however trumped-up the charges against them, they are clearly guilty of something. Eldest brother David is simply too angry to offer any objectivity, so to make the extent of their transgressions clear, we need the accounts of many more believable witnesses and ideally - middle brother Seth, who declined to be interviewed.
What we do learn is that suburbia is a strange and scary place... and there is nothing scarier than knowing nothing about the people next door.
score 9/10
skymovies 5 August 2004
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0907985/ |
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2-12-2019 06:54:55
