Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Directed by Andrew Jarecki
A critically acclaimed documentary film, which is structured into what can only be described as an uncomfortable argument surrounding the court cases of father and son Arnold and Jesse Friedman, in which they are both charged with a series of obscene acts of child rape and abuse. The film is glued together by bizarre footage shot by the Friedman family whereby the relationships between husband and wife, parents and children are torn apart by a child pornography scandal. As the story unfolds it becomes apparent that the accusations made by the alleged victims of the family are unrealistic and that the methods the police use to convict both father and son are outrageous and frenzied. The film left me having to make up my own mind on whether to decide if the family were guilty or not and this, considering the subject matter, was rather unsettling.
The Friedman Family
Copyright Daniel Emmerson 2008 all rights reserved
