Skip to main content

Frederick Wiseman: Titicut Follies (1967)

The film was definitely hard to watch and left me with mixed feelings. Aside from the cruel and inhumane scenes, the passiveness of the filmmaker in the documentary was also disturbing. I agree with Grimwash and Ravez, the film is both open and closed (pg 12). Despite the fact that Wiseman directly exposes his observees without any context or chronology of the story, the viewer has to untangle the ambiguity of the filmmaker's choices: why did he choose this certain angle? why did he choose this specific sound for the scene? why is he showing this to us? The last question was especially on my mind while watching the film. What is Wiseman's goal by documenting this passive observation? Why didn't he intervene or try to understand the participants better instead of only showing the surface of the story? I think this also brings up the issue of ethics and it reminded me of a short film One Hundredth of a Second (2006) by Susan Jacobson. The short story is about the ethics of documenting violence – how should the filmmaker or a photographer act when her observee is in danger? 

       

 Nevertheless, according to Grimshaw and Ravez, Wiseman's goal was to raise public awareness of the problems of the judicial system and the treatment of the mentally ill. Yet, while cinéma vérité should "show, not tell", it doesn't seem to show any empathy or engagement with its subjects. The social distance created between the filmmaker and his subject doesn't give the impression that he wants to change the reality, but just to observe and document it without any intervention.


Wiseman frequently uses the close-up technique which makes the film more uncomfortable to watch. I think this kind of filming invades into the subject's personal space without his permission, creating some kind of power dynamic between him and the filmmaker. What I mean by this is that the camera becomes a source of pressure on its own, while the patient is unshielded and exposed. The film clearly demonstrates that observation is not merely looking at the institution from the inside, but actively engaging with its actors, participants and producers. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Building as a Bearer of History: The Story of Hotel Iveria

    The ‘Iveria’ building was a popular luxury hotel in Georgia during the Soviet regime. It was built in 1967 and hosted all international guests, including officials from neighboring countries. Standing in the center of the capital, it was the highest building in Tbilisi and could be seen from different angles of the city. The building soon became a focus of interest for those curious about soviet architecture and aesthetics. As the hotel Iveria was located in the geographical center of Tbilisi, the building and its inhabitants witnessed many historical events occurring in the capital during the 80s and 90s. One of the turning points was the anti-USSR demonstrations and protests in Georgia, many of which were held on the Republic Square in front of the hotel Iveria. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Georgia slowly transmitted into a post-socialist era. The hotel Iveria now became a reflection of soviet memories. In the meantime, the 1992-1993 war between Georgians and Abkh...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nanook of The North (1922) - Edit Analysis

      The sequence portrays one of the occasional events of the Eskimos life – bartering for different weapons and goods they can’t usually get in their daily lives in exchange for the products they acquire through hunting. The documentary Nanook of The North (1922) enables us to have a closer look at the life of Eskimos living in northern Canada. While the main character of the film happens to be Nanook, the viewers also get to see the lifestyle of Eskimo women, children and other Eskimo hunters. The film gives us insights into the Eskimos’ labor division, hunting rituals, homemaking practices, gender roles, social hierarchy, belief system and childrearing practices. Furthermore, it tells the story of the interaction between humans and nature, particularly, the process of Eskimos’ adaptation to the strict climate of the north. How can these people live in such a cold temperature and still be joyful and smiley? – was my first question after watching the documentary. As...
Post a Comment
Read more