Brother’s Keeper could be accused of exploiting the Wards – there’s a painful scene of the socially phobic Lyman squeezing himself through a barn door to escape the camera – except that the movie develops exploitation as one of its themes. Whether it’s the investigators who may (or may not) have taken advantage of Delbert’s mental deficiencies to get him to sign a confession, or it’s the townsfolk and local news crews who used Delbert’s case to grab their own moment in the sun, or it’s Delbert himself exploiting country-bumpkin stereotypes to cover his own guilt (a shuddering possibility the movie leaves us with), Brother's Keeper is more of a fly on the wall than opportunistic shock doc.

A bit more here.

Brother's Keeper does more with 100 minutes than Making a Murderer did with 10 episodes.

The Smothers Brothers

Remember when every documentary wasn't a stretched out 10 hour Netflix show.

kill bill: vol. 3

One of the legal guys in this pronounced William as 'Weeyam'.

Just tough, tough material. Really top notch focus on small community and very under represented group of individuals. Powerful.

my favorite quote “durnedqndedurgenehden *beard scratch*”

This just made me really sad, especially when they were discussing how 'dumb' the brothers were while they were sitting right there.

One of the most beautiful, captivating, heartbreaking documentaries I’ve seen. My heart breaks for the Ward brothers.

Honestly I can’t say that I recommend this to everyone. It’s a great documentary and quite the portrait of an isolationist family. Under the context of 2019, with both the internet and modern feelings towards rural recluses, I have to wonder what a movie like this would turn out like. The filmmakers would need to be sensitive, empathetic, and yet skeptical enough to make it interesting—even more than was necessary in 1992. Although it can be hard to understand the brothers, it’s a well made movie with little intervention from the documentarians. 

The subject is interesting and the movie well done but if you’re used to flashy true crime Netflix originals it will certainly feel antiquated. (I don’t think that’s automatically a bad thing, just a heads up.)

Brother's Keeper explores how the inclusiveness of the justice system can be tested when concerning people who are illiterate, intellectually disabled and/or cut off from society. It demonstrates with clarity how societal failures - poverty, lack of education, rural/urban divides - present real barriers in the courtroom in one of the most searing indictments of how exploitative our justice system can be towards our most vulnerable.

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's debut definitely pales somewhat in comparison to the next true-crime documentary they would make.

solid proof that a good crime documentary doesn't need to be 8 hours long.. lookin at you netflix

Accused of killing his brother, a semi-literate farmer is put on trial in this US documentary. The case is intriguing at first as all sorts of theories emerge as to why he might have murdered his ailing brother (mercy killing; killed in anger, etc). As the film progresses though, it becomes very clear that the farmer is probably not guilty with the only evidence against him being a confession signed under duress. Questions then arise of why the police are so keen on pursuing the case, which the filmmakers never answer. While the documentary is unabashedly driven towards exonerating the farmer, it would have been nice to hear more from the other side. Still, this is pretty interesting stuff, especially for its glimpse into a close-knit small town open and willing to help one of their own even if they hardly ever interacted with him before.

the documentary that got me hooked on documentaries

Ur dokumentärfilmens vinkel borde den här rättegången ha ogiltigförklarats. Jag vet ej vad jag skall tycka, följde dokumentären distraherat. Visste i princip de första minuterna vad den ville presentera och var den skulle gå.

Precis som Kevin-fallet, Making a Murderer AKA Brendan Dassey-fallet är det här en rättegång med mindre intellektuellt kapabla vittnen och anklagade, som lätt manipuleras av lurig polisåklagare. Vad som egentligen hänt offren är en bisak i polisärendet. Bakom stängda dörrar ryggdunkas väl polismännen som tvingat fram ett erkännande ur oskyldiga, för att det visar att de är så bra förhörsledare.

En förlaga till Making a Murderer och en prototyp för true crime. Ointressant för att det är i princip samma grej fast daterat dåligt foto. Total cirkus i rättssalen. Hoppas innerligt att det inte ser ut så här i vårat system idag.

Our justice system has a lot of problems but false confessions must be near the top.

“Did you know you had this many friends?”

I really love documentaries about community and this one intersects with true crime in an interesting way. If you loved Making A Murderer, definitely check this out!

Enoch assigned me this as something he thought I'd love for Love It or Hate It, You Gotta Love It this week. It’s one of his own favorite documentaries, and what he says on the pod is true, it's a very special piece of American film history. I would encourage people to watch along with us at home especially this time, as it is very good & underseen.

Listen to this episode of the pod here.

just me and the boys chilling on our farm with our school bus full of chickens

ACAB lil homie just wanted to sleep with his bro 😊