Review of Tower (2016) by Brent_Marchant — 20 Dec 2016

On August 1, 1966, assassin Charles J. Whitman ascended the University of Texas, Austin, observation tower and opened fire on the campus below, killing 16 and injuring 33. The horrific incident, one of the first mass shootings in modern American history, received considerable attention at the time.

But the events of that day, including numerous acts of compassion and heroism, have since faded from public awareness. Those touching moments and courageous efforts have been brought back to life in “Tower,” a stylish, innovative documentary that examines the tragedy from the perspective of survivors, law enforcement and the media.

Telling this story, however, required some inventive filmmaking. Given the dearth of media coverage of the incident at the time (at least compared to today’s standards), director Keith Maitland needed to compensate for a lack of archival footage by blending the limited historic images available with a compelling mixture of riveting animation and recent interviews in relating the survivors’ and heroes’ stories.

The result is a moving, highly personal account of that fateful day and its legacy in the annals of American gun violence.