Do Documentary Filmmakers come with Opinions?

Opinions are like a–holes, everyone has one. So yes, yes and yes.  I do believe that every filmmaker comes to the table with an opinion on the subject they are examining.  This is especially true if the filmmaker is putting themselves in the film.

Take Supersize Me or Sherman’s March. Both of these films had something to say about the world around them at a specific time. But as Tamie points out in the comments from last week, all documentary filmmakers approach their subject with an opinion.

Therefore, the question then becomes, what sort of objectivity are these filmmakers bringing to the table? Are they being true to their subject and the world around them or are they crafting the story to fit their needs?

Enter Frederick Wiseman. This legend made 36 films in 38 years. In 2006, Mr. Wiseman received the George Polk Career Award given annually by Long Island University to honor contributions to journalistic integrity and investigative reporting.

Many, including Wikipedia, would say that this great documentary filmmaker shoots in a style referred to as cinema verité, or as some like to call it the “observational mode”.  However, Wiseman begs to differ…

What I try to do is edit the films so that they will have a dramatic structure, that is why I object to some extent to the term observational cinema or cinema verité, because observational cinema to me at least connotes just hanging around with one thing being as valuable as another and that is not true. At least that is not true for me and cinema verité is just a pompous French term that has absolutely no meaning as far as I’m concerned.

At least he is honest. In 1968, Wiseman shot a little doc called High School for PBS. This film follows the “typical” day of students and faculty at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. Well, not so typical my Aunt Philomena would say. Why does she have the authority to challenge? She is the teacher in the film caught scolding the young lady for wearing a skirt that was too short.

One family party, I was privy to the inside scoop on the making of that film and let me tell you, her veins were a popping as she filled me in. Turns out that Wiseman went to the school and graciously pitched his story to them. This was to be a film about the schools in America and he felt Northeast High School was a great place to show typical behavior. The staff bit.

Upon completion of the film, they knew they had been had and they were furious.

(Remember, Wiseman had just come off the film Titicut Follies which found itself banned in all states bar Massachusetts. It was declared as “80 minutes of brutal sordidness and human degradation.”)

Now he had teachers and administrators buzzing around him like a swarm of angry bees. Their major complaint came was how the film was edited, causing them to look like barbarians reigning over their students like raw meat.

A great example is the scene where the principal is walking down the hallway. He stops to ponder and gazes through the gymnasium door to see the students engaged in sport. At this point there is a very suggestive cut that implies the thoughts and feelings of this administrator. (Won’t spoil… must see it.)

Wiseman has just done what he set out to do… build drama through editing to get his point across- however- with no regard to the truth, BUT to be taken by the viewer as truth to prove his point. This is really the gray area of documentary filmmaking in my mind.

You see, Wiseman never entered Northeast High School to paint a pretty picture. No. He had a very definite opinion of what the school systems were all about. He had set out to show how poor these schools were run. Another institution in his mind that was failing the people.

Journalistic integrity and investigative reporting? I wonder…

Check out the film and let me know what you think.

MUST READ THIS WEEK****  The Editor *** he really knows his stuff!