review by Leighton Trent
Capturing the Friedmans 2003
Reviewed Mar 11, 2012
Leighton Trent’s review:
A hell of a documentary. The artistic way in which Jarecki assembles his narrative allows us to see this disassembling of a family as nothing short of a nightmare. What he does so well is show that this family was never really happy and it only needed a catalyst like this incident to destroy it. As for the legal side of the case against the father and son, Jarecki does not concentrate on it to a great degree, but focuses on the people involved and how they're reacting to it. Instead, he shows that at the heart of it, there is no truth. There's contradiction on both sides. We can't know, because no one will say it. They're too ashamed. And can we blame them. Who would wanna admit to crimes likes this and what kid (now older) would wanna admit they were coerced into saying these things to the police?
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