Watching Andrew Jarecki's riveting non-fiction drama is like watching a slow-motion replay of a multi-car pileup; you know it's headed for disaster, but there's no way you can stop watching. On the surface, the Friedmans were a typical 1980s American family. Living in Great Neck, Long Island, Arnold was a well-respected teacher,.. Read more
| Starring | Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman, Seth Friedman |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrew Jarecki |
| Genres | Documentary |
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Watching Andrew Jarecki's riveting non-fiction drama is like watching a slow-motion replay of a multi-car pileup; you know it's headed for disaster, but there's no way you can stop watching. On the surface, the Friedmans were a typical 1980s American family. Living in Great Neck, Long Island, Arnold was a well-respected teacher, Elaine was a dedicated mother, and their children Seth, Jesse, and David were model students. But one Thanksgiving, that happy facade came to a crashing halt. After the local police discovered Arnold had engaged in the buying and selling of child pornography, they questioned several students who attended his computer classes in the Friedman basement. What they revealed would shock the community, and destroy the Friedman family forever. The subsequent investigation and trial uncovered even deeper hidden secrets at an alarming rate, creating a rift between Arnold and Elaine that would never be reconciled. Jarecki uses present day interviews with Elaine, Jesse, and David, as well as Arnold's brother Howard, to provide some sort of insight on the situation, but it backfires, for everyone has a different story to tell. And then there is actual home video footage of the family in the midst of the hurricane, which gives the film an eerie, voyeuristic charge.
| Starring | Arnold Friedman, Elaine Friedman, David Friedman, Seth Friedman, Jesse Friedman |
|---|---|
| Director | Andrew Jarecki |
| Studio | PALISADES TARTAN |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 48 mins Watch now: 1 hr 44 mins |
| Certificate | DVD: |
| Genres | Documentary |
| Language | DVD: English Watch Online: English DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 23 Jul 2004 Watch now: 27 Jan 2010 DVD: 23 Jul 2004 Production year: 2004 |
| Watch now | Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package. |
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In this compelling documentary, director Andrew Jarecki refuses to adjudicate on whether the story of a retired Long Island teacher's arrest for paedophilia is a suburban scandal or a hysterical conspiracy. Accused of assaulting boys attending lessons in the family basement, Arnold Friedman's fall from grace represented a domestic tragedy for his unforgiving wife, Elaine, and his largely supportive sons, David, Seth and Jesse (who was also jailed on child abuse charges). Comprising the Friedmans' own revealing home movies, interviews and news footage, Jarecki's film raises disturbing questions about the law's attitude to those accused of sex crimes.
On Thanksgiving weekend 1987, police in Great Neck, Long Island, pursuing a US Post Office sting, broke down the... read more on Time Out
The subject matter, being as it is about a family torn apart by paedophilia, should make this film hard to watch. However, watching the case unfold against the ... more
An outstanding documentary, challenging, balanced and informative without talking down the subject.
Dealing with the difficult subject of a child ...
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Inspired by the release of “American Teen”, we’ve compiled own playlist of must-see twenty first century documentaries. It’s been quite a decade for non-fiction filmmakers. Once synonymous with earnest and boring, the genre has undergone a radical facelift and enjoyed the kind of box-office success that would have been beyond the wildest dreams of the old guard of fly-on-the-wall practitioners. If Michael Apted had been charting the life cycle of the documentary film... Read more