Capturing The Friedmans

Started by jokerspath, June 16, 2003, 02:55:54 PM

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Weird. Oh

Quote from: abuck1220just caught this on dvd...pretty great.

one thing that was really interesting to me was the father's demeanor...SPOILERS...he never really said much throughout the film to proclaim his innocence. now, i'm of the opinion that he didn't molest any kids in his basement, BUT i think he may have done it in the past and there was a good chance that he'd do it in the future.

...and i got the weird feeling that he felt the same way...he didn't really do what he was actually being punished for, but rather what he'd done in the past or to prevent him from doing things in the future. he was certainly an interesting character.

Actually I believe a few times they say he admitted to having sex with children. They said he had sex with his brother. And his brother denied having any memory of it which is kind of amazing because I believe he said he was 8 when it happend. Also, I believe they said Arnold admitted to having some form of relations with boys at the lake house.
The more arguments you win, the fewer friends you will have.

Gold Trumpet

Finally watched this and not only felt it was a great film, but a very important one at that. I had the same debate in my head of speculating to who was actually telling the truth and who wasn't, but the great thing about that is how convinced everyone was of their own innocence, their feeling of normalcy while being accused of being a "monster" by the media. I said Irreversible gave a good feeling to the understanding of how anyone of us can be that monster when really pushed to do it; Capturing the Friedmans takes it further to social truths. It understands that many people who do committ terrible crimes don't surround themselves with that life and fully accept the monster they are, but try to live normal lives and bury their secrets. This movie pin points the feeling I get when I do something wrong and get caught and feel above it because I surround myself with mostly good intentions so should be given some leway. This film will stand as an important cultural documentation. Irreversible stands as a great filmmaking project with some truthfulness.

For the record, I believe the father and son did some of the crimes. I don't believe they did all of them, but smoke and fog couldn't have created that big of a firestorm against them. Its just when police went looking for more witnesses, some were bullied to say they were victims when they weren't. There still had to have been a number of witnesses telling the same story to police and being very specific to really create this problem.

pete

ah you got the dvd.  How's the dvd?
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: peteah you got the dvd.  How's the dvd?

lots of features. lots of features i haven't watched yet. right after i watched the film, i had 3 people waiting to borrow it. I've gone a week now without having the dvd so I really don't know.

MacGuffin

'Friedmans' Victims Send Academy a Letter

NEW YORK (AP) - Two men whom Jesse Friedman pleaded guilty to sexually abusing as boys have written an open letter to Academy Awards voters, speaking out against the Oscar-nominated documentary about the Friedman family.

"Capturing the Friedmans,'' by director Andrew Jarecki, is among the favorites to win best documentary at the Feb. 29 Oscar ceremony. It examines the cases against Arnold and Jesse Friedman, a Long Island father and son imprisoned in the late 1980s for sexually abusing dozens of children.

The victims, now in their 20s, wrote that Jesse Friedman was "being paraded like a celebrity.''

"If this film does win an Oscar, it will be won at the expense of silencing the plaintive voices of abused children once again, just as our own voices were silenced 16 years ago by the threats and intimidation of our tormentors, Arnold and Jesse Friedman,'' said the letter.

Jarecki said his film was a balanced piece, and that he had reached out to every child involved. He pointed out that the film's longest interview is with someone who has recollections of being abused.

"The film doesn't exclude that perspective in the slightest,'' he said Tuesday. "I didn't set out to make an advocacy film for the Friedmans, and I didn't make one.''

However, Jesse Friedman, now 34, is seeking a new trial to overturn his conviction based on information revealed in the documentary. And in an earlier interview, Jarecki told The Associated Press that he was ``very supportive'' of Friedman's quest for a new trial, and that people ``come away from the film thinking that Jesse was railroaded.''

The men who wrote the letter list their ages as 24 and 27 and their occupations as graduate student and businessman, respectively. They did not reveal their names.

The judge who dealt with their case, Abbey Boklan, who is now retired from her Nassau County court, confirmed that the two men had been among the 13 children Jesse Friedman pleaded guilty to abusing.

A copy of the letter was provided to The Associated Press by Joyanna Silberg, a child psychologist and member of the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, which is conducting a campaign against the movie.

"Whether it was on purpose or whether Jarecki was misled, he presented a documentary that conveys an impression of the case that is erroneous,'' Silberg said.

"Capturing the Friedmans'' won the documentary grand prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and was named best nonfiction film by the New York Film Critics Circle.

Jesse was 19 when he pleaded guilty to the sex abuse charges in 1988. Authorities said he and Arnold Friedman molested dozens of children during computer classes in their home.

Jesse was sentenced to 6 to 18 years and was paroled after 13 years in prison; he is now a registered sex offender who lives in Manhattan. His father, an admitted pedophile who was also convicted of sending child pornography through the mail, died in prison in 1995.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Ravi

One thing that made the film disturbing was that it is a documentary but at no point in the film do we ever know what exactly happened.  Neither side is probably telling the whole truth, and contradictory statements abound.  Its a difficult film to watch not only because of the subject matter, but also because of the sense that we don't know the whole truth.

Gamblour.

Exactly! It's a brilliant fucking film, I was just talking about your same point the other day. I was trying to explain to my mother the story, and it's hard because the father is a pedophile, but is he completely guilty of this crime? And Jesse seems innocent, but his family is so off their rocker, especially the older brother. In the end, their mother, the one whom they constantly complain about, seems to be the only person with any sanity left in her, as she got the hell away from everything and started over.
WWPTAD?

noyes

i just watched it for the first time last wednesday. and i was completely disturbed by it. it was a chilling and brilliant documentary on this family and this father who, once you hear that comment about the child "making him excited", that was the climax for me, i was like "ahh.. uh ugh." you feeling you get watching this is essentially the same feeling you get watching a documentary, or reading a book, of a serial killer. where they're so insane, and the chronicling of all their murders makes you feel disturbed inside. like when i was watching this Chikatilo documentary.. but yeah. great film.
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