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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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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 members' reviews (3)
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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. -
30 out of 39 people found this review helpful
A lesson in how documentaries should be made
Tragic is such an overused word in this day and age, but in the case of the Friedman family it couldn?t be more apt. And the beauty of this film is that the viewer is allowed to decide with whom the tragedy lies. There?s no hype, no sinister background music, no patronising narrative and no dramatic re-constructions. The filmmakers just allow the story to tell itself and, through skilful editing, allow you to constantly consider and re-considered the evidence that is presented to you.
This is certainly one of the most balanced and mature pieces of documentary making I've seen in a while. The film is well structured, well shot and captures the emotions of all those involved with the case. I can?t say that I enjoyed the film, it is about paedophilia after all, but if you have an open mind then you will certainly take something from this film. 5 out 5.
Extras ? An interesting and informative documentary with the director and an equally insightful commentary by the director and producer. -
13 out of 13 people found this review helpful
Dysfunction at it's purest
This film is seriously worth renting, but be warned that it extremely uncomfortable to watch. What is presented is a compelling look at both sides of an intriguing case of a family torn apart by child molestation charges. This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
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Most recent members' reviews (2)
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
Capturing the self-destructing Friedmans!!
A compelling dvd about a very strange, middle-class American family whos life's are turned upside down when the father and youngest son are arrested on child abuse charges. What makes it a little strange is that their whole lives are captured on video tape.......by themselves!!
The documentary is suprisingly easy to watch, considering it's content. Although, I felt it raised more questions than answers.
At a time when documentaries are getting more popular then film, a must see. -
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Disturbing and Compelling
Where's the 6 star rating? This is the best documentary I have ever seen - most of the footage is shot by the family themselves, in the years before the scandal, during the uncovering of it, and all through the trial and aftermath. This is combined with interviews abd brilliantly woven into an unstoppable narrative by the director.
However, the interviews with members of the legal professions and police involved in the case are enough to make your blood run cold. Not only in their unscrupulous self-serving methods, hasty assumptions and illegal manipulations of testimony and evidence, but in their utter lack of any humanity or compassion for the family of the accused.
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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. -
30 out of 39 people found this review helpful
A lesson in how documentaries should be made
Tragic is such an overused word in this day and age, but in the case of the Friedman family it couldn?t be more apt. And the beauty of this film is that the viewer is allowed to decide with whom the tragedy lies. There?s no hype, no sinister background music, no patronising narrative and no dramatic re-constructions. The filmmakers just allow the story to tell itself and, through skilful editing, allow you to constantly consider and re-considered the evidence that is presented to you.
This is certainly one of the most balanced and mature pieces of documentary making I've seen in a while. The film is well structured, well shot and captures the emotions of all those involved with the case. I can?t say that I enjoyed the film, it is about paedophilia after all, but if you have an open mind then you will certainly take something from this film. 5 out 5.
Extras ? An interesting and informative documentary with the director and an equally insightful commentary by the director and producer. -
13 out of 13 people found this review helpful
Dysfunction at it's purest
This film is seriously worth renting, but be warned that it extremely uncomfortable to watch. What is presented is a compelling look at both sides of an intriguing case of a family torn apart by child molestation charges. This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen.
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12 out of 16 people found this review helpful
Oh yuck, I wish I'd seen it coming!
Did I miss something? Sitting down with my wife to watch what I mistakenly believed was a successful documentary on the current political climate in the USA, we began watching this strange film. Too late we realised that this was a 'video diary' about the exposure and eventual incarceration of a particularly sick schmuck who for too long fooled everyone except his tragically betrayed wife. I'm not sure who the target audience is for this vile subject, but it's an odd film that by the end hasn't said much. We know paedophiles are the absolute dregs and we can all if we cared to, imagine what they get up to, so why do we want to be told?
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Proper Reality-TV
I'm amazed that watching 10 idiots, desparate to become famous, sitting in some artificial house is called Reality TV. This story, with its contentious subject matter and intimate portrait of a family is about as REAL and raw as it gets.
What's more amazing is that you get to see the story as an observer in the family's front room as well as further background footage spread over many decades.
Very pleased at the impartial approach of the director. It would have been easy to label the police as idiots or the family as totally crazy or most of all Mr Friedman as a predatory monster (This is probably what the guy who turned it off just after the beginning wants to hear - I'm sorry but turning it off doesn't solve the problem of paedaphilia and make it go away and if you haven't watched the film, don't post a review) but you will see that its not the case or, at least, not completely. There are no black and white characters in this story.
Despite what some people have said, this is NOT a Michael Moore style film. (He does an important job but he also has his own agenda and I can't see him tackling this subject objectively) You never see or hear the director in this film.
Its great that as the story progresses that you side with the police, then they contradict themselves, and then you're on the family's side, and back and forth. Its interesting how unreliable people's memories are. After all these years people on both sides are certain about some 'facts' which we the audience can see are not the truth, although I'm convinced that those concerned don't think they're lying.
Finally you're left with your own ideas of who's innocent and guilty, questioning the actions of the police and the decisions of the family.
Its refreshing that you're not given the answers in the end - How many times in films (fact or fiction) is the moral rammed down your throat when you could have formed your own opinions?
This is not light viewing but if you want something real and you want to do some detective work of your own, give it a go. -
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Beautifully crafted with sensitivity
A sad and tragic story of a modern day Crucible. Constructed from home movies about a family in the 1980s caught up in a sex abuse case.
I thought the film was beautifully crafted with sensitivity, given the difficult subject matter. In particular it was refreshing the filmmaker didn’t use the usual voice over to move the plot along.
If there is a criticism, it is that some of the more evidential matter that further backs up Jesse's innocence is on the second DVD and wasn't included in the main film. -
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Seemlessly delivered and engrosing
Gone are the days of the tatty documentary. This title is seamlessly put together and has the direction-photography-production values of a film rather than a documentary. Everything runs well and you are kept engrossed by the subject as the makers have planned the whole topical matter around a running storyline that shows how the friedmans family gradually disintegrates.
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6 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Capturing the soul
Film fans and film buff alike, it is you sole duty to rent this film cause it will blow you away. From the horrific tales of child molestation to the Did he? Didn't he? suspense of the latter film is sheer documentary class.
It manages to shock you in your most primal sense of a Loved-filled family whereby a secret sends them to hell and back. Enjoy! -
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Five Stars!!!
In the year of the documentry Capturing the Friedmans stands head and shoulders above the rest. A thought provoking, and provocative piece that had me changing my mind throughout, showing that you should never jump to conclusions.
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4 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Fascinating and very sad
This real life story of the breakdown of a family unfolds slowly. It shows how a chance occurance in the father's childhood, being directly exposed to sexual behaviour at an impressionable age, led to disasterous consequences later in life. It also shows that often people's perception of the truth is far more important, and has more far reaching effects, than the real truth.
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.
-
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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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 ... -
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