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Capturing The Friedmans
2004
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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Capturing The Friedmans
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 |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Documentary |
| Language | DVD: English DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 23 Jul 2004 DVD: 23 Jul 2004 Production year: 2004 |
| Format | DVD |
Capturing The Friedmans (2004)
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Critics' reviews (2)
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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.
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On Thanksgiving weekend 1987, police in Great Neck, Long Island, pursuing a US Post Office sting, broke down the... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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42 out of 44 people found this review helpful
Thought - provoking and compelling
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 Friedmans makes this a very compelling and thought-provoking documentary. In particular, the relationships between the family members have to be seen to be believed.
If you enjoyed the documentary style of Bowling for Columbine, then you'll definitely appreciate this, possibly even more so if you prefer your documentaries without a narrator.
'Capturing the Friedmans' will have you talking about it long after you've ejected the disc from your player. -
Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
It takes all sorts of strange people....
As others have said, this was an excellent documentary, shot in the way that documentaries should be, unbiased, giving all the facts to show both sides of the story. I too found myself changing my mind all the way through but at the end, I felt that there was far too much evidence not to prove that both the father and son were guilty of child molestation. Jesse Friedman showed himself up to be a very good actor! The documentary was also very emotional and gave us an insight into how families can be torn apart by such shocking revelations, with the innocent ones made to suffer for the guilty; the poor mother who was excluded from the family even before the crime was highlighted, and the brother, David, who was clearly in denial. Definately one to watch.
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- 04 Mar 2009
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
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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 ... -