Word: titicut
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...when Frederick Wiseman directed his first documentary, Titicut Follies, a powerful look at life inside a Massachusetts prison for the criminally insane. At that time Follies' cinema-verite style exemplified the vanguard of documentary filmmaking: no interviews, no narration, no overt intrusion of the filmmaker's point of view. Since then, the technique has become something of a TV cliche. Prime-time shows from Hill Street Blues to CBS's 48 Hours have appropriated the hand-held camera and other slice-of-life touches. Even commercial directors have tossed away their tripods: cameras wander about relentlessly, trying to sell "reality...
...except by accident, but they are not exactly fun either. Every effort is made to duplicate the real thing: actual forces clash by day and night, and umpires determine who would have killed whom. It is a natural subject for the cinema verite technique of Frederick Wiseman (Canal Zone, Titicut Follies), and the only thing lacking in Manoeuvre is the smell of commingled sweat and exhaust...