FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
DVD Special Features: Commentary by: Andrew Jarecki. Unseen Friedman home movies.
Great Neck Outraged. New witnesses & evidence. Uncut footage of the prosecution's star witness.
Friedman family scrapbook and hidden audio tapes. The original short film about David Friedman.
Jesse's life today. An altercation at the film's New York premiere. The Judge speaks out at the Great Neck premiere.
A special ROM section with key documents from the family and the case.
English/French/Spanish Subtitles. Trailer. (3 hours, 55 min.)
A fascinating documentary that’s both a portrait of an American family’s disintegration and
an examination of child sexual abuse. Arnold Friedman, an award-winning high school
teacher, also teaches computer classes Saturdays in his basement. After an arrest for
possessing child pornography, a police investigation leads to over a hundred charges for
sodomizing and sexually abusing male computer students. The Friedman’s three sons
stand behind their father, turning against their mother, Elaine. They believe their father is
innocent, but she is not so sure. Interviews of Elaine, the eldest son David, the youngest
Jesse (also charged with his father), police investigators, lawyers, and the investigative
journalist Debbie Nathan turn Capturing the Friedmans into a Long Island Rashomon.
Questions of investigative impropriety, a town caught up in a witch hunt, and the lack of
forensic evidence are raised. Ciphering the truth, the film becomes involving. Director
Jarecki takes his time in presenting the divergent points of view. But even at nearly two
hours, one still feels there is a lack of information. One wishes there would have been more
interviews of the witnesses for the prosecution. But what makes this documentary
remarkable is the access to family home videos, especially scenes of the family
strategizing before the trials, which turn into vitriolic attacks. At its conclusion, there’s an
indelible and more than understandable sadness when Elaine comments about her
marriage, “There was nothing between us except the children we yelled at.” Kent Turner
DVD Extras: The bonus DVD provides further information, but a lack of
tangible evidence renders both the Friedmans and their detractors unconvincing. Though the
director tends to sympathize with the family, inconsistencies on both sides of the argument
adds to the film’s ambiguity. Testimonies and
ponderings of the Friedmans, their friends, the police, and experts
merely raise more questions. Though
enlightening, chapters exploring the movie’s conception and its
making are typical. The best of the extras, the contentious discussion segment filmed at the New
York premiere, illuminates the enduring bitterness. More home video footage of the Friedmans
transcends the documentary’s subject matter, suggesting a vulnerable American family. The
audience can almost empathize.
A frequently asked questions section, DVD-ROM documents, and a
simulated family photo album offer more of the same stubborn accusations
from all parties involved. Although all possibilities have been candidly explored, the only truth
one can be sure of is that someone is lying. Stephen Bowles
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