Review of Capturing the Friedmans (2003) by Andrew D — 29 Jul 2010

Capturing the Friedmans is not easy to talk about, let alone review. It is a documentary about how a family are torn apart by charges of pedophilia and sexual assault against the father of the family, Arnold Friedman and the youngest son, Jesse. It is about how time colours and crystalises peoples perceptions and views. It is about how a family responds to the ultimate crisis. It is not about whether Arnold Friedman was a pedophile. Such a thing is obvious from the beginning of the documentary. It is about whether Arnold and, to a greater extent, Jesse Friedman were victims of a media circus, a trial by public opinion, and a poor police investigation.

Discussing it as a documentary, i.e. how good a documentary is it, how well does it present and discuss its subject matter, I would have to say it is a runaway success. The story that is told is relayed almost entirely through interviews, including the wife of the family, Elaine, two of the three sons, Jesse and David, as well as numerous people involved in the case, from the people who initially investigated Arnold Friedman to the investigators who questioned the vicitims to the victims themselves, the lawyer of Jesse Friedman etc. Clearly, all bases were covered by the makers in this respect. The only other form of narrative progression we get is through home video footage of the family during the trial, which is in equal parts fascinating, disconcerting and voyeuristic. There is no actualy narration in the documentary, nor is there ever need for any. This fact alone is a sign of how well a made documentary this is. The narrative flows effortlessly and coherantly, with only the occasional caption box used to give a specific context to a certain piece of footage.

I am incredibly hesitant to discuss the content of the documentary in any great detail, as doing so would surely create preconceptions. Having said that, be aware that the documentary contains some fairly graphic, although not overly detailed, descriptions of the alleged acts performed by Arnold and Jesse. Bear in mind also that, as a documentary, it has an agenda it is pressing upon the viewer. I for one was not without skepticism from beginning to end. However, also bear in mind that just because it has an agenda, and that agenda may not be something you want to hear, does not mean it doesen't at least have a point.

Ultimately, this is a very focused, fairly concise documentary on a very sensitive, very difficult subject. It asks alot of questions, but at the end it is left mostly to the viewer to decide the answers.