Crossing the "Line"

Errol Morris' riveting documentary "The Thin Blue Line" proved to be a thought-provoking film for CineVerse attendees yesterday. Here is a recap of our major discussion points:

HOW IS THIS FILM DIFFERENT FROM MOST OTHER DOCUMENTARIES YOU’VE SEEN, AND HOW WOULD IT HAVE BEEN INNOVATIVE FOR 1988?

·       It doesn’t rely on voiceover narration to tell its story

·       Instead, it recreates supposed events through the accounts of the eyewitnesses and people involved via dramatic but artificial re-enactments

o   His primary technique is to shoot things like objects related to the crime scene, such as the milkshake, gun, or car taillight from different angles and different viewpoints as further questions or clues are introduced

o   These recreation shots are illuminated with high key lighting and set against a bland black background

o   He sometimes uses slow motion for exaggerated effect

o   these re-enactments, interestingly, don’t focus on any actor faces

o   this approach became common in later documentaries, police procedural shows and crime dramas

·       It employs a proper score written for the film

·       It has the interviewees make eye contact with the camera, creating a more intimate experience for the viewer as if they are being directly talked to; these subjects are also not identified via introductory subtitles, and they are distinctively framed within each shot

·       It uses other elements interestingly: maps, clips from the drive-in film, newspaper clippings, mug shots, close-ups of visual evidence, clocks, an ashtray, etc.

·       The filmmaker’s approach is previsualized cinematography; every shot is carefully created, which is a departure from the random and unplanned realism of cinema verite (loose, raw, handheld style) often employed in documentaries  that aim for unpolished, spontaneous, on-the-fly footage

·       The final gripping scene, in which Harris confesses, only uses shots of a tape recorder shot from different angles (this was a happy accident due to a camera malfunction), quite a curious way to capture a film’s most important scene

DO YOU FEEL THE FILM IS OBJECTIVE AND IMPARTIAL, OR IS IT OBVIOUS THAT THE FILMMAKERS HAVE A BIAS HERE THAT ADAMS IS INNOCENT, THEREBY NEGATING THE AIMS OF DEPICTING THE TRUTH FAIRLY?

·       You can make the case that Morris is not prosthelytizing Adam’s innocence, but rather bringing to light the flawed logistics and testimonies that resulted in his conviction

·       Morris also allows all sides to tell their stories

·       However, he seems to give Adams the last word and, in the editing choices, subtly give him greater preference

·       Perhaps the strongest evidence of the film’s possible persuasive bias is the fact that it helped free Adams from a wrongful imprisonment

DOES THE THIN BLUE LINE REMIND YOU OF ANY OTHER FILMS OR WORKS OF ENTERTAINMENT?

·       Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, another movie that tells the story of a crime from several different viewpoints and attempts to explore the nature of truth and reality

·       Countless crime scene and police procedural TV shows that have utilized the crime recreation approach with highly stylized, slow-motion footage and impressionistic shots of various objects, clues, etc.

OTHER DOCUMENTARY FILMS BY ERROL  MORRIS

·       Gates of Heaven (1978), about two pet cemeteries

·       Vernon, Florida (1981), about the inhabitants of a small town

·       The Fog of War, about war mastermind Robert McNamara