Little Tony DeFranco
03-20-2004, 08:40 AM
DVD Review: Capturing the Friedmans
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http://www.browntownjohnny.com/index.php
Capturing the Friedmans
Andrew Jarecki set out to do a documentary of the number 1 party clown in NYC named "Silly Billy" and ended up doing one of the most facinating films ever made about the destuctive life of the Friedman family of Great Neck LI. Arnold Friedman was a loving teacher and family man that was arrested along with his son Jessie on hundreds of charges of molestation in their middle class home. Arnold was a retired computer teacher that tutored many children over a long period of time. When he is questioned about his receiving child porn through the mail, the police go to the families of his students to see if any wrong doing had happened. The case is made and prosecuted with Arnold pleading guilty to his crimes. This lead to the conviction of his son Jessie, who maintained innocents until his plea of guilty at the hands of a very bad lawyer.
All these actions are made from the news footage and home movies made by family members. Son David (Silly Billy) Friedman along with his unsure mother and silent brother Seth vidoetaped the entire case from 1988 til the release of his brother from prison. 'Capturing the Friedmans' is heatbreaking to watch and is an stripped away look at the legal system (interviews with arresting officers and judge and lawyers make us question the way police work is done, and thanks to the pictures and video tape of the family we can see that the charges are unsubstaciated. Interviews with some of the allegedly raped students and their parents reveal the direction of the police procedure was wrongful.
The family footage shows love and affection and a truely happy unit with secret problems that we see in all our own relations. Though Arnold is a closet pervert with major guilt issues and son Jessie is a repressed child with sexual hangups, they are people we see and know. David's anger at his mother for not supporting Arnold is sad.
This is one of the finest documentary films ever. Very human and heartbreaking. The ending is somber but uplifting, the DVD has a good followup extra. Must See this movie!
Heartbeat is a Love Beat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.browntownjohnny.com/index.php
Capturing the Friedmans
Andrew Jarecki set out to do a documentary of the number 1 party clown in NYC named "Silly Billy" and ended up doing one of the most facinating films ever made about the destuctive life of the Friedman family of Great Neck LI. Arnold Friedman was a loving teacher and family man that was arrested along with his son Jessie on hundreds of charges of molestation in their middle class home. Arnold was a retired computer teacher that tutored many children over a long period of time. When he is questioned about his receiving child porn through the mail, the police go to the families of his students to see if any wrong doing had happened. The case is made and prosecuted with Arnold pleading guilty to his crimes. This lead to the conviction of his son Jessie, who maintained innocents until his plea of guilty at the hands of a very bad lawyer.
All these actions are made from the news footage and home movies made by family members. Son David (Silly Billy) Friedman along with his unsure mother and silent brother Seth vidoetaped the entire case from 1988 til the release of his brother from prison. 'Capturing the Friedmans' is heatbreaking to watch and is an stripped away look at the legal system (interviews with arresting officers and judge and lawyers make us question the way police work is done, and thanks to the pictures and video tape of the family we can see that the charges are unsubstaciated. Interviews with some of the allegedly raped students and their parents reveal the direction of the police procedure was wrongful.
The family footage shows love and affection and a truely happy unit with secret problems that we see in all our own relations. Though Arnold is a closet pervert with major guilt issues and son Jessie is a repressed child with sexual hangups, they are people we see and know. David's anger at his mother for not supporting Arnold is sad.
This is one of the finest documentary films ever. Very human and heartbreaking. The ending is somber but uplifting, the DVD has a good followup extra. Must See this movie!
Heartbeat is a Love Beat