Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

What’s not difficult when reviewing ‘Capturing the Friedmans’ is telling you it’s an extraordinary, fascinating and moving piece of cinema. What’s extremely difficult is reviewing it without telling you how I feel about the events depicted in the documentary, whether I believe the family we watch disintegrate are responsible for the shocking crimes they are accused of. However, since Andrew Jarecki has succeeded in depicting the facts without telling ...
...the same. Andrew Jarecki wanted to make a film about clowns, the kind of clowns that your parents hire to perform at your birthday party, since David Friedman is the number one party clown in New York he was the obvious choice as subject. What Jarecki didn’t know when he started making this film is that by interviewing David he would uncover an entirely different story which would transform his documentary into one of the most challenging and critically ...

Zoe 10.08.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

...Manhattan. ******************************************************************************************************** Released on 9th April 2004, Capturing the Friedmans is rated 15 in the UK and is available as a 2 disk DVD set to rent. It is directed by Andrew Jarecki and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ...

Kirsty1 05.02.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

“Capturing the Friedmans”, released in 2003 and directed by Andrew Jarecki details the disturbing account of the paedophile charges made against Arnold Friedman and his 19 year old son Jesse, in 1988. This film is another in the trend towards a documentary style, and is fairly unique in that it consists mainly of old footage both shot by the family in what were presumably happier times, and also filmed on video by the elder brother David Friedman, ...
...two family members in the late 1980s. This arrest itself happened on a Thanksgiving reunion, with the older boys returning home for the celebrations. The Friedman’s live in a middle class suburb of Long Island, known as Great Neck, and seem to fit into that role fairly well. Dad, married to Elaine, is a school teacher who also runs piano, and later, computer classes at home, and they have three sons – David, Seth and Jesse. The crimes against Arnold ...

helencbradshaw 06.02.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

2004 seemed to be the year of the documentary – Super size me, Fahrenheit 9/11, all have left their mark. Here’s one documentary, actually released in the previous year, which, in common with these two, received heaps of acclaim. It was Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Festival, among other things. << What is it about? >> Andrew Jarecki’s movie began life as a short film, a profile of David Friedman, who works as a clown in New ...
...successful in his trade, and Jarecki felt it was worth making a film about. But in the end “Capturing the Friedmans” became a full blown movie about the whole Friedman family. During the course of filming David Friedman, Jarecki became aware that his father (Arnold Friedman) had been at the centre of a child abuse case in the 80s. Arnold taught computer classes to young boys, and there were allegations that he had molested, even raped, several ...

BuzzinMovies 26.02.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

...common as a summer blockbuster, Capturing The Friedmans is several notches above even the best of the current crop. In a similar way to The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, the actual nature of Capturing The Friedmans is not what the filmmaker, Andrew Jarecki, intended. He initially set out to make a film about the business of being a clown in New York, now part of the DVD release’s extras. One of the clowns he was following and interviewing for ...
...his childhood brings an edgy response and an unguarded comment of “There are some things I don’t want to talk about”. This was the catalyst for what became a very non-judgemental account of what happened to the Friedmans back in 1984. Through the clever mixing of the Friedman family’s own video footage, news reports from the time and contemporary interviews, Jarecki draws the audience into the crux of the story - whether or not Arnold and his son ...

Ailran 16.10.2004 (19.10.2004) · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

Capturing the freidmans started life as a documentary about a childrens entertainer. It became a fascinating insight into the American Judicial system . Many will be uncomfortable with the content which involves charges of child molestation. This is a well balanced documentary which offers no propoganda for either side, just a thorough airing of the facts. Since watching this at the cinema over two years ago, I am no closer to forming an opinion. ...
...the DVD was welcome, but is now quite dated and has nothing recent about the Freidmans post prison life. The families camcorder footage allows you to get up close and personal with the Freidmans in away a docudrama couldn't. If you can see past the edgy material, this provides real insight american justice and the hysteria that can consume certain subjects. ...

hotspur_blue 03.03.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)

...clown in Manhattan. ******************************************************************************************************** Released on 9th April 2004, Capturing the Friedmans is rated 15 in the UK and is available as a 2 disk DVD set to rent. It is directed by Andrew Jarecki and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. ...

ejay_home 05.02.2005 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful
Review of Capturing The Friedmans (DVD)