Capturing the Friedmans (2003) Rated: This film not rated by the MPAA. Runtime: 107 mins. Director: Andrew Jarecki Producer: Andrew Jarecki; Marc Smerling Cast: Arnold Firedman; Elaine Friedman; John Friedman; Seth Friedman; Jesse Friedman ....complete cast Genre: Documentary
Tagline: Who do you believe? Memorable Quote: "My three sons they were not"
Reel commentary: ...Never succumbing to heavy handedness, Jarecki beautifully interjects artistic elements and a brooding original score to guide the viewer through the complex subject matter......full review
by Frank Wilkins
Armed with a search warrant and a preconceived notion, Great Neck, Long Island police barged into a home on the night before Thanksgiving in 1997. Living there was a typical Jewish family consisting of Arnold, a 56-year old retired teacher, his loving wife Elaine, and their three sons, Dave, Seth and 18-year old Jesse. Police were acting on an on-going investigation of Arnold Friedman in which he admitted to receiving child pornography from an International supplier.
For the next 10 years, the police investigation and subsequent trials would center around Arnold, who taught computer classes out of a makeshift basement classroom in his home. Despite an apparent lack of evidence, prosecutors continued their allegations that Arnold and his youngest son, Jesse raped, fondled, and molested the young male students in their care. The arrests and ensuing media coverage would understandably send the family into an emotional spiral that ultimately shattered this peaceful, fun-loving middle-class family. What wasn't understandable were the subsequent "witch-hunt" trials that would play out in the media and spill over into the court system.
In an extremely captivating yet disturbing documentary style, Capturing the Friedmans unfolds with the aid of hours and hours of home movie footage taken by the Friedmans themselves. Via their 8mm home movies we are given a window into the personal lives of a family spiraling down a painful rabbit hole. In the hands of a filmmaker less adept, this complex story could have quite easily become confusing or tiresome. But newcomer Andrew Jarecki, the cofounder of Moviefone.com, handles the material like a seasoned veteran, as he combines 8mm footage, various news clips, and VHS tape with Super16 mm video. Never succumbing to heavy handedness, Jarecki beautifully interjects artistic elements and a brooding original score to guide the viewer through the complex subject matter.
Refusing to lose sight of his objective of telling a captivating story, Jarecki retains the focus of a true journalist. He never succumbs to grandstanding or sensationalism. Like Paradise Lost: the Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills, Capturing the Friedmans is a true-life horror story that brings into question, human nature, family bonds, the media and ultimately the entire U.S Judicial System.
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Screen formats: Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1
Subtitles: English; French, Spanish.
Language and Sound: English: Dolby Digital 5.1; English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.
Extra Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access; featurettes; cast and crew interviews; filmmakers' and Friedman family Q&A and debates; on-the-scene footage of film's premiere; new evidence, witnesses, and uncut footage of the prosecution's star witness.
Trailer: Original theatrical trailer.
Deleted Scenes: Approximately 12 minutes of deleted footage.
Documentaries:
1st - with Jesse, David, Elaine and a sympathetic journalist at a post-screening discussion at the Tribeca Film Festival.
2nd - Discussion with Abbey Boklan, the judge who presided over the case.
3rd - Jarecki's appearance on Charlie Rose as he compares the Friedmans to the Osbournes.
Featurettes:
Unseen Home Movies - highlight reel containing three short bits with additional Friedman home movie footage.
The Case - four featurettes containing, among other things, more student confessions; the Great Neck Community mounting against the Friedmans; hateful answering machine messages left by angry community members; police officers on a "witch-hunt".
The Family - Footage from Arnold's retirement party; Elaine's arrest; Jesse's life after prison; Jarecki's original project about Silly Billy the clown, John's alter-ego.
Audio Scrapbook - more footage of the Friedmans
The Score - with Andrea Morricone, who provided the original score.
Commentaries: With director Andrew Jarecki and the film's co-producer and editor Richard Hanklin. They discuss how Jarecki began the film by creating a documentary on New York City party clowns and how it lead to its final form.
DVD-Rom Material: Arnold's jailhouse autobiography; the police report; a letter to Arnold from a former student, an MP3 file of Jazzbo Mambo, by Arnito Rey (Arnold's AKA when he played in a band in the '50s; and more.
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
