(For volume six, in 2004, I switched the title of the column. The format remained the same.)
Never having been satisfied with the column title “Overlooked (or Obscure) Goodies,” which appeared in the final two issues of volume three, I am now quite happy to alter it to the more prosaic but heartfelt “Movies Worth Rediscovering.” In each issue I will highlight films that I feel deserve to be remembered or rediscovered by viewers.
As my predominant theme this issue seems to center on documentary filmmaking, I will begin with a startling example of modern documentary technique and style, a 1988 film that has a special place in cinema history.
Originally designed to feature various histories of men serving life sentences in prison, director Errol Morris heard the story of Randall Adams, who was convicted of killing a Dallas police officer. Ultimately convinced of Adams’ innocence, Morris turned his 1988 jailhouse film into an exposé of the Adams case, utilizing unconventional techniques and even dramatic re-enactments (considered a no-no in America, though widely used in Britain’s documentaries) in order to prove that Adams had been railroaded into jail.
Morris’ unorthodox techniques infuriated some, but as with Michael Moore’s movies, the evidence uncovered and presented in The Thin Blue Line is too compelling to ignore. Morris not only did his research homework, he displayed journalistic skill in weaving the elements together in a cohesive, persuasive fashion. The unusual elements simply add a cinematic theatricality to the proceedings that keeps viewers interested.
The coup de grace is the final scene, in which another inmate, David Harris, is heard acknowledging that he, in fact, he fingered Adams as the man that had killed the policeman. The film ends with the statement that Adams was still in jail, serving a life sentence for the murder of policeman Robert Wood.
Soon after the film’s release, under heavy public pressure because of publicity surrounding the film, Adams’ case was reopened and he was freed. Such is the power of a well-made documentary.
Morris had no intention of telling a “balanced” story. Once he had accepted Adams as innocent, his mission was to prove that innocence and he used every trick in the book to do so. He poked holes in witness testimony, recreated the time line and ultimately provided at least a reasonable doubt that Adams was indeed innocent. It was a better job than the Dallas police had done and it eventually resulted in the release of an innocent man. That is a magnificent accomplishment, and The Thin Blue Line is a one-of-a-kind movie. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ½. (6:1).