Errol Morris

[bhbest]

A truly remarkable documentary. I have watched it many times and will in the future. God bless Randall Adams.

[ieodksnw787]

Harris is a sociopath, creepy fuck.  Still, I don't belief in capital punishment.

[JDznz]

the main music track on this doco is so much familier...i have heard it some other recent movie.

[poplarparkfilms]

batman.?

[WRamirez]

its actually from his documentary "the Fog of War" if I am not mistaken

[standupstella]

@JDznz The soundtrack to The Hours was also by Philip Glass and used some of the same themes—it sounds similar.

[rudolfopatricio]

jmc... Are you insane??? he is perhaps the most intresting documentary maker there is today. And what has hes voice to do with anything???

[jmc8197]

I've never rated Erol Morris. He ends up spoiling a good documentary by distracting people with snippets of film from other films with background music, and then ends up sometimes asking questions with his repulsive, whiney voice

[pilkingtonphil]

Those "snippets of other films" are inserted so as to point out that elements from the interviewees fantasy life are invading their judgement of objective reality; for example, the key witness in the Adams trial having a fantasy of "being the detectives wife" which clouded her judgement. If you stopped paying attention to trivial points such as Morris' voice you may have noticed and spared us your repulsive, whiney comment...

[pilkingtonphil]

As far as I know he doesn't, for example: Gates of Heaven. However, when he does use this technique its usually to either make a subtle point or to illustrate what the interviewee is talking about. In fact he's not the most prolific user of this technique; Adam Curtis absolutely saturates his docs with archive footage and music and he does so to great effect.

[pilkingtonphil]

Actually I'd argue that this is far better style of documentary making than the usual "stream of random facts" narrative structure of most docs. These tend to pacify the viewer which not only excludes his active participation in the story but also sort of sends him to sleep and, in my opinion, often leaves very little residue of the "moral of the story" after the viewing has commenced, in this regard many documentaries tend to wash over the viewer; Morris', Curtis' and perhaps Herzog's don't...

[jmc8197]

Maybe you should look at some other dosumentaries he does because he uses this awful technique in all of the "first person" series - distracting the viewer from what the interviewee is actually saying and distorting the viewer's perception

[pilkingtonphil]

You mean putting the interviewee's statement into a larger narrative structure and not taking it at face value, perhaps? How on earth can a documentary be charged with NOT distorting a viewer's perception? There's ALWAYS two sides to every argument, Morris tends to take sides, I agree, but implicitly ALL documentarians do the exact same thing, they're simply more subtle about it; such subletlety, I would say, is far more distorting of the viewer's perception...

[jmc8197]

No. Using images from other movies and connecting them with what the interviewee is saying, with background music to influence the emotions of the viewer.

[pilkingtonphil]

The emotions of the viewer? Are you serious? I'd really like an example. In fact I think this is exactly what Morris et all avoid. Contemporary journalism is racked with "emoto-images", this all the way up to reasonably decent film-makers such as Winterbottom. The use of images and music in Morris' and Curtis' are usually used to expel an emotional response in the viewer and appeal to them to critically examine the material being offered.

[pilkingtonphil]

To be honest if I'm going to take you seriously I'd ask for some examples of the allegations you put foward, especially regarding attempts to appeal to the emotions of the viewer. Morris has always stated that his films are concerned with objective truth, he always attempts to distance himself from tear-jerker images such as we see plastered across the front of the weekend supplement every week. The Thin Blue Line is a perfect example, the communities' distrust of outsiders and...

[pilkingtonphil]

...aggressive emotional impulses which were stirred when a police officer, as well as their inability to take revenge on a 16 year old delinquent who seemed like a "nice kid" prevented them from ccoming to the truth. Morris takes a critical distance to these emotive responses and lays out the case. Curtis does a similar thing in The Power of Nightmares, he uses images to slice through emotionally charged hysteria. Seriously, I'm afraid I need examples if I'm to take your allegations seriously.

[pilkingtonphil]

Reply on the main page, sorry, messy system YouTube have here...

[jmc8197]

I did a Youtibe search on Errol Morris and picked the first movie - Fog of War. Right at the start it plays dramatic music and 0:56 into the documentary, it uses old footage of a group of men not connected with the documentary. This is Errol's style - distorting documentary comment by adding background music and images from other archives not related to make the product look "arty"

[pilkingtonphil]

How the hell do you know that those men aren't connected with the documentary from watching the first minute of it? Do you not think that you're being kind of biased and coming to Morris' films with negative preconceptions? I mean you're clearly doing that there! If you actually watched the movie and paid attention you'd realise that its not simply a film about Robert MacNamara; its a film about how the US in particular and Westernised man in general approach war, how they fight it...

[pilkingtonphil]

...how it affects them and so on. Morris' films deal with larger issues than their immediate subjects but in a way where the message is channeled through the particular people Morris hones in on and studies; "Gates of Heaven" deals with the stifling of emotions and aspirations in modern society and how we treat the topic of death. There is a real point to the way Morris presents his material which I've been highlighting again and again, but instead of arguing it you've...

[pilkingtonphil]

...repeating your vague assertions ad nauseum, as if they gain credence through repetition. Once again, watch the film, not the first minute and you'll see that Morris is creating a narrative out of various fragments, some of which are quite large, for example the interview, and some of which are quite small, as for example bits of archival footage. There's a purpose there and its not some poseur motivation of "looking arty".

[wushumon88]

@pilkingtonphil wow you are a elite high class gentleman, i say good sir, did u study in Oxford?

[pilkingtonphil]

@wushumon88 Well, higgldy-piggledy, chap, I've been caught out - and here's me thinking I was cruising incognito among the peasants.

Jolly good, call, jolly good!

[wushumon88]

@pilkingtonphil ha ha ha. We should go drinking some time...have a pint, or two

[pilkingtonphil]

@wushumon88 Now you're talking my language... perhaps a glass of sherry after we get wrecked among the commoners... Hey-ho, old bean!

[beakdip]

massive sync problems.

The Thin Blue Line is arguably the best documentary ever made.

[analizame]

Strongly out of sync! Requires lots a imagination.