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Capturing The Friedmans [2004]
![Capturing The Friedmans [2004]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WFVZ6BADL._SL160_.jpg)
On the DVD:Like the film itself, the bonus disc that accompanies Capturing the Friedmans asks a lot of questions, offers a few pertinent answers, and leaves a legacy of mystery in a case that many never be fully solved. What really happened in the basement of the Friedman home in Great Neck, New York? Is Jesse as guilty as his father in the notorious case of child molestation? Additional excerpts of the Friedmans' home movies only deepen the uncertainty we feel after viewing the film, and video footage from two early premiere screenings demonstrates that emotions will continue to run high as long as lingering doubts remain. The "altercation" at the New York premiere is actually rather benign, but only because filmmaker Andrew Jarecki kept the crowd under control before arguments could boil over; at the Great Neck premiere, the case's judge gets a chance to comment on facts that the film omitted while praising its overall veracity. Uncut footage of the prosecution's star witness makes it clear that the case was on shaky ground; even more than in the film proper, this witness (whose face is hidden in shadow) comes off as marginally credible at best, and at worst a vindictive liar, further suggesting serious weaknesses in the prosecution's case. On a lighter note, "Just a Clown"--the film Jarecki was making when he discovered the true scope of the Friedman story--is a delightful portrait of New York party clowns and their reigning king, David Friedman, whose business thrives as he caters to wealthy Manhattanites. It's clear proof that Jarecki's a gifted documentarian. A featurette about Andrea Morricone (son of the great film composer Ennio Morricone) highlights his creation of the film's evocative score. Returning to the Friedman case, an interactive dossier of Friedman-related media delves deeper into the lives and personalities of this dysfunctional American family, and "Jesse's Life Today" examines the ex-convict's relatively upbeat recovery from 13 years in prison for a crime he allegedly didn't commit. For armchair detectives, an extensive menu of pertinent documents are provided as DVD-ROM content, the most fascinating being Arthur Friedman's confessional "My Story," a psychologist's assessment of alleged vic! tims, and a curiously revealing "Friedman family contract." Taken together, these and other documents add even more complexity to the film's compelling, Rashomon-like study of truth. --Jeff Shannon Nominated for the best documentary Oscar, the intriguing story of the Friedmans continues to develop and compelling new evidence, witnesses and uncut footage of the prosecution’s star witness are all presented on this two-disc edition. It’s time to find out who you believe now. DVD Technical Information:
RRP: £19.99
Our Price: £4.31 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
A Sundance Grand Jury prize-winner and a true conversation starter, Capturing the Friedmans travels into one apparently ordinary Long Island family's heart of darkness. Arnold and Elaine Friedman had a normal life with their three sons until Arnold was arrested on multiple (and increasingly lurid) charges of child abuse. Because the Friedmans had documented their own lives with copious home movies, filmmaker Andrew Jarecki is able to sift through their material looking for clues. Yet what emerges is more surreal than fiction: the youngest Friedman son went to jail; the eldest became a birthday-party clown. In the end, we can't be sure whether Arnold Friedman is a monstrous child molester or the victim of railroading. The portrait of a disconnected family is deeply disturbing, either way, and this film is further proof that a documentary can be just as spellbinding as anything a great storyteller dreams up. --Robert Horton
Editorial
DVD Description
The Friedmans are a respectable, middle-class Long Island family, seemingly addicted to recording their daily lives – first on super-8, then on video. But their world crumbles when the father, a popular teacher, is accused, along with the youngest of his three sons, of molesting schoolchildren. Unbelievably, the arrest, trial and its horrifying aftermath are all chronicled in the family’s own home movies, revealing a tangle of contradictions and their comfortable world slowly disintegrates around them. The resulting story will haunt you long after the end-credits roll.
Editorial
Special Features
Editorial
Synopsis
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.
this is something else!
Review date: 2007-10-24 Rating: 10 out of 10
capturing the friedmans is a stunning documentary,without fear of exaggeration,that is exactly what it is.The subject matter is troublesome and certainly uncomfortable,that being child abuse but how the documentary unfolds will ultimately have you feeling one way or another but you will find a reaction in yourself,few films can state to do the same.
The film,i will call it a film for now,deals with the friedman family,an affluemnt family in long island,America,the family is well liked,respected and with father,mother and three sons,they were the picture of happiness.However their world was soon to turn upside down and then some.The father of the family,Arnold,subscribed to a child abuse magazine that was intercepted by police,they then went to his house and searched it finding a load of similar magazines,they also found that he was a computer teacher to local boys and interviewed them and found out that some of them spoke of sexual abuse by arnold and his son jessie and then began the fall down of the family.
The film is interlaced with home footage of the family growing up,the family were big on home movies and watching some of those gives insight to what happened after,there is also interviews with the family at the juncture of the films release along with lawyers,journalists and detectives,the families of the sons abused and the people abused in the computer room alledgedly.
What makes this for riveting viewing is that arnold and jessie contested their innocence throughout,the home footage of the family talking just before trial and trying to punch holes in the states case is great but nerveracking and very real,very real.
The film also asks you the viewer to ask yourself whether after hearing the testimony whether you think they did it or not,for my money i think they didnt do it but i may be wrong,do they go to jail,you will have to find out yourself,some of the testimony is laughable in my eyes,one of the witnesses who states he was abused contradicts himself on numerous occasions and weakens his argument,others state that the police told the boys what to say,the family seemed to be railroaded.
The footage of the three sons siding with their father ,while their mother couldnt decide his guilt or not and then the eldest son david falling out with his mum in savage style is again beyond words in its power.
The extras are again stunning,a second disc packed to the rafters with footage from the films premiere and the fights that occured,more home footage,more documents and trial footage,yes you even get trial footage,stunning.
This is a cracking show,so real and so poignant at the same time,what you feel is up to you ,but you wont leave unscathed.
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Reviews
younger perspective
Review date: 2007-07-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
as a younger person i felt watching this for my current media studies a level work that this film is gripping and gives the audience the opportunity to make up their own mind. i felt that there were many different unsolved issues to this case but which most would remain unsolved. i also feel that this case will never be able to figure out the truth due to the continued media interest in this case, and how it has affected peoples perceptions of what really happened.
no forensic evidence seemed to have been found by the police and many children admitted they were almost "bullied" into saying the abuse took place.
a very hard hitting film which entertains and makes you question many things.
Weird family, biased film
Review date: 2007-05-30 Rating: 6 out of 10
I saw this film without knowing the story of the Friedmans. During the film I went from believing they were innocent to thinking they were guilty and back and forward and so on. I think the director wants you to think that Jesse Friedman was innocent of all crimes and his father, Arnie, innocent of the crimes he was charged with but had 'guilty' stuff in his background.Don't be fooled. I researched the Friedmans after my viewing and there was a lot the director did not put in as it puts me in no doubt that both men were guilty.Watch it, enjoy it for what it is but please research them on the internet afterwards and see a different story.
Strangely unpleasant
Review date: 2006-02-23 Rating: 6 out of 10
This strange documentary about a family torn apart by allegations of child abuse is a mixture of interviews and bizarrely honest home movies which gives the viewer an unsettling, voyeauristic thrill. The ambiguity reviewers of this film have spoken of wasn't that apparent to me - it seemed pretty clear that he'd been caught with kiddie porn and then hounded with trumped-up, false memory syndrome induced charges of kiddie fiddling. Capturing the Friedmans really doesn't do itself any favours by dramatically revealing that Friedman's brother is gay at the end of the film, as if it has some relevance; and this coupled with the unsettling voyeaurism left a nasty taste in my mouth.
Strange family!
Review date: 2005-10-17 Rating: 6 out of 10
This is a documentary, looking back at the Friedman mass child abuse case in the USA. I think the documentary is their to shed concerns over the conviction of father and son, however, whilst it does throw up some failings in the case against them, I came away feeling that justice has probably been served. This is one very strange family!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Elaine Friedman
David Friedman (IX)
Seth Friedman (II)
Arnold Friedman (II)
Jesse Friedman (II)
Creators:
Arnold Friedman (II) (Primary Contributor)
Elaine Friedman (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Tartan Video
Manufacturer: Tartan Video
EAN: 5023965347824
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2004-07-26
Number of discs: 2
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 108 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2002
Language: English (Original Language)