Capturing the Friedmans (2003)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Andrew Jarecki

Release Date:

28 August 2003 (Israel)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Crime

Tagline:

Who do you believe?

Plot:

Documentary on the Friedmans, a seemingly typical, upper-middleclass Jewish family whose world is instantly transformed when the father and his youngest son are arrested and charged with shocking and horrible crimes.

Plot Keywords:

Child Pornography | Epilogue | Marriage | Homosexuality | 1980s

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 20 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Arnold Friedman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elaine Friedman	...	Herself (also archive footage)
David Friedman	...	Himself (also archive footage)
Seth Friedman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jesse Friedman	...	Himself (also archive footage)
John McDermott	...	Himself
Frances Galasso	...	Herself (as Det. Frances Galasso)
Anthony Sgeugloi	...	Himself
Chuck Scarborough	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph Onorato	...	Himself
Judd Maltin	...	Himself
Howard Friedman	...	Himself
Abbey Boklan	...	Herself (as Judge Abbey Boklan)
Ron Georgalis	...	Himself
Scott Banks	...	Himself
Larry King	...	Himself (archive footage)
Debbie Nathan	...	Herself (also archive footage)
Jerry Bernstein	...	Himself
Peter Panaro	...	Himself
Lloyd Doppman	...	Himself
Jack Fallin	...	Himself

Directed by
Andrew Jarecki

Produced by
Peter Bove	....	line producer (as Peter D. Bové)
Richard Hankin	....	co-producer
Andrew Jarecki	....	producer
Jaye Nydick	....	line producer
Jennifer Rogen	....	associate producer
Marc Smerling	....	producer

Original Music by
Andrea Morricone

Cinematography by
Adolfo Doring

Film Editing by
Richard Hankin

Art Direction by
Nava Lubelski

Production Management
Jose A. Barrios	....	production manager
Tanya Barr	....	production manager
Alex Carone	....	production manager
Rafael Estrella	....	production manager
Caroline Findlay	....	production manager
Christopher J. Grunke	....	production manager
Thom Little	....	production manager
Robert Warmflash	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Liz Campbell	....	swing
Nava Lubelski	....	props

Sound Department
Nathan Crooker	....	additional sound
Mariusz Glabinski	....	assistant sound editor
Piotr Glabinski	....	apprentice sound editor
Marlena Grzaslewicz	....	sound editor
John Gurrin	....	sound mixer
Dustin Hudson	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
Bruce Kitzmeyer	....	sound editor
Desiree Ortiz	....	additional sound
Ira Spiegel	....	sound editor
Peter Waggoner	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Steve Chiarello	....	visual effects
Kevin Quinlan	....	visual effects
Mark Szumski	....	visual effects
John Zawisha	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Charlie Beyer	....	additional photographer
Rebecca Brillhart	....	assistant camera
Jesse Cory	....	key grip
John Dreyer	....	gaffer
Brian Jackson	....	additional photographer
Chris Johnson	....	gaffer
David Kuhn	....	still photographer
Aaron Phillips	....	additional photographer
Rossana Rizzo	....	assistant camera
Roger Sherman	....	still photographer
Marc Smerling	....	additional photographer
Tim Spellman	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Rick Barlis	....	color corrector
John Dowdell	....	colorist: high definition (as John Dowdell III)
Peter Heady	....	on-line editor: HDTV
Danny Hogan	....	assistant on-line editor
Aaron Johnson	....	assistant editor
Patricia Sztaba	....	negative cutter
Stan Sztaba	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Matthew Abbott	....	music clearances (as Mathew Abbott)
Damiano Antinori	....	assistant score engineer
Jim Black	....	music clearances
Enrico DeMelis	....	music coordinator (as Enrico De Melis)
Andrea Morricone	....	conductor
Andrea Morricone	....	music editor
Andrea Morricone	....	orchestrator
Gianni Oddi	....	musician: saxophone soloist
Alessia Patregnani	....	music facilitator
Luciano Torani	....	music mixer
Fabio Venturi	....	music recording engineer
Fabio Venturi	....	score mixing engineer
Rocco Zifarelli	....	musician: guitar solos

Transportation Department
Christopher Pollard	....	genny driver

Other crew
Nancy Baker	....	creative consultant
Steve Beganyi	....	production assistant
Brian Cahill	....	production assistant
Mike Campbell	....	production assistant
John Carlucci	....	production assistant
Al Cerullo	....	helicopter pilot
Mark Chamlin	....	legal counsel (as Marc Chamlin)
Robert Coles	....	particularly good advice (as Dr. Robert Coles)
John Cumberland	....	production assistant
Michael Darmanin	....	title designer
John Dowdell	....	datacine operator (as John Dowdell III)
Cory Gibson	....	production assistant
David Hurlburt	....	production assistant
Victor Kovner	....	legal counsel
Albert Maysles	....	particularly good advice
Pat McNulty	....	production assistant
Gary Mennitt	....	legal counsel
Earl Nemser	....	particularly good advice
Sheila Nevins	....	particularly good advice
Mike Nichols	....	particularly good advice
Martin Obysovsky	....	production assistant
Eric Rosenthal	....	production assistant
Diane Sawyer	....	particularly good advice
Jamieson Shea	....	assistant to producer
Mark Townsend	....	production assistant
Matt Whitcher	....	location manager (as Matthew Whitcher)

Thanks
J.J. Abrams	....	special thanks
Katie Abrams	....	special thanks
André Balazs	....	special thanks
Paul Barnes	....	special thanks
Jeff Bushkin	....	special thanks
Dado Carillo	....	special thanks
Michael Chandler	....	special thanks
Gavin De Becker	....	special thanks (as Gavin DeBecker)
Griffin Dunne	....	special thanks
Alexa L. Fogel	....	special thanks (as Alexa Fogel)
Katie Ford	....	special thanks
Liz Garbus	....	special thanks
Robin Gattegno	....	special thanks
Mark Golin	....	special thanks
Mark Green	....	special thanks
Rob Gukeisen	....	special thanks
Robin Hafitz	....	special thanks
Jim Hart	....	special thanks
Lisa Heller	....	special thanks
Dawn Hershman	....	special thanks
Ellen Hovde	....	special thanks
Gloria Jarecki	....	special thanks
Nancy Jarecki	....	very special thanks
Jeong Ho Kim	....	special thanks
Greg Kinnear	....	special thanks
Barbara Kopple	....	special thanks
Helen Labdon	....	special thanks (as Helen Kinnear)
Ken Lanning	....	special thanks
Tom Lassally	....	special thanks
Ted Leonsis	....	special thanks
Bryan Lourd	....	special thanks
Michael Lynton	....	special thanks
Gary Mennitt	....	special thanks
Paul Mones	....	special thanks
Julie Moran	....	special thanks
Rob Moran	....	special thanks
Giovanni Morricone	....	special thanks
David O'Connor	....	special thanks
Sanford Panitch	....	special thanks
Hutch Parker	....	special thanks
Bob Pittman	....	special thanks
Veronique Pittman	....	special thanks
Mikal Reich	....	special thanks
Howard Rosenman	....	special thanks
Stefanie Scheer	....	special thanks
Alex Silveira	....	special thanks
Carly Simon	....	special thanks
David Spinozza	....	special thanks
Kipp Stroden	....	special thanks
James Taylor	....	special thanks
Michael Wimer	....	special thanks
Jacy Young	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• HBO Documentary
• Notorious Pictures

Distributors

• Magnolia Pictures (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Home Box Office Home Video (HBO) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• 791 Cine (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• BIM Distribuzione (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2003) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Filmcoopi Zürich (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Filmhouse (2004) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Metro Tartan Distribution Ltd. (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Tour de Force (2004) (Norway) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (video)
• Alpha Filmes (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Alpha Filmes (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Barbar Film (2005) (Turkey) (all media)
• Four Films (2007) (Chile) (DVD)
• HBO Documentary (USA)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Pelicanfilms (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV)

Special Effects

• Charlex (visual effects) (as Charlex NY)
• Cobblestone Digital Animation (photo animation)

Other Companies

• 701 Sound  post-production sound
• Available Light Productions  lighting (as Available Lighting)
• Cable News Network (CNN)  archival footage (as CNN)
• Camera Service Center  camera equipment provided by
• Cinetic Media  sales
• Clearsongs  music clearances
• Donna Daniels Public Relations  publicity
• Du Art Film and Video  film lab
• F.I.L.M. Archives  archival footage
• Forum Studio  score recorded at (as Studio Forum Music Village)
• Hand Held Films  camera
• Hello World Communications  sound equipment
• Hotlights  lighting
• Hoverviews Unlimited  helicopter (as Rover View Unlimited)
• Luna Lighting  cranes
• Luna Lighting  dolly
• Orchestra di Roma  score performed by
• Playback Systems  monitors
• Postworks New York  digital intermediate
• Sound One  sound mixing
• Storyville Post  Avid editing facility (as Storyville Films)
• Tape House Editorial  post-production services
• Technological Cinevideo Services Inc.  camera
• World Cinevision Services  negative cutting

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich)

Filming Locations:

Dannemora, New York, USA

Company:

HBO Documentary

Trivia:

The movie caused some theatre patrons to remain in their seats to argue the innocence of Arnold and Jesse Friedman. This caused theatre owners to complain to the films distributor, Magnolia Pictures.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 50 Greatest Documentaries (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jazzbo Mambo

Andrew Jarecki's `Capturing the Friedmans' is as real as hidden family dysfunction could be on film.

Forget TV reality shows: Andrew Jarecki's `Capturing the Friedmans' is as real as hidden family dysfunction could be on film. Out of a seemingly-normal Great Neck, N.Y., middle-class family comes a tale too unique to be discounted: Honored teacher father and boyish son are charged with molesting young boys who attended dad's after-school computer class. It's known that dad reads child pornography, but the questionable molesting becomes a crisis fulcrum for the entire film.

`Friedman's' is unique for 2 reasons: 1. Better than almost all other documentaries, even `Paradise Lost,' it reveals the ambiguity and uncertainty in most litigation. 2. It uses copious home movies to reveal the major characters at play and rest without helping to determine guilt or innocence.

Jarecki, a co-founder of the Internet site, Moviefone, has admitted that after all the hours of interviews and miles of footage, he is not certain about the guilt of the father and son. Even the homemade family film, filled with slapstick and confession, is either so disingenuously crafted by another son to create the uncertainty or so naive as to be believable.

With that ambiguity, ironies abound: Award-winning teacher Arnold has a sleazy secret life centering around the very students he is guiding; Arnold's ex-wife is so remote from this male-dominated family that she may not have had a clue, yet her reunion with Jesse after his prison term is amazingly joyful and honest; son Jesse disclaims helping dad with the molestations yet confesses in the end, he says, because the law and the town are stacked against him.

Most fascinating to me, an amateur chronicler of my own family, is the Friedman's (and by inference, America's) obsession with documentation. The night before dad goes to prison is videotaped; the night before Jesse's incarceration, brother David records him in various poses, most of them loose and sometimes laced with self-deprecation.

Jesse is videotaped outside the courthouse the day of his confession dancing a jig and generally goofing. Is this nervous energy, an act to neutralize a fear of imprisonment or an egregious act meant to outrage the judge and jury? Ambiguity rules here.

David, the narrator brother, leads his life as Silly Billy, the most sought after birthday clown in new York. The irony is rich.

I don't know if I can ever believe what I see again. I do know I will more carefully watch every documentary from this day forward. This one unambiguously deserved the 2003 Sundance grand jury prize.