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IMDbPro

Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment

  • 20002000
  • 3h 13m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
238
YOUR RATING
Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)
  • Documentary
This is a documentary about direct-cinema from its very beginnings (Nanook of the North) to the fake-direct-cinema of the Blair Witch Project. All the important direct-cinema filmmakers are ... Read allThis is a documentary about direct-cinema from its very beginnings (Nanook of the North) to the fake-direct-cinema of the Blair Witch Project. All the important direct-cinema filmmakers are portrayed and/or interviewed: Leacock, Wiseman, Maysles, Pennebaker, Reisz and others.This is a documentary about direct-cinema from its very beginnings (Nanook of the North) to the fake-direct-cinema of the Blair Witch Project. All the important direct-cinema filmmakers are portrayed and/or interviewed: Leacock, Wiseman, Maysles, Pennebaker, Reisz and others.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
238
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Peter Wintonick
  • Writer
    • Kirwan Cox(narration written by)
  • Stars
    • Jean-Pierre Beauviala
    • Michel Brault
    • Gillian Caldwell
Top credits
  • Director
    • Peter Wintonick
  • Writer
    • Kirwan Cox(narration written by)
  • Stars
    • Jean-Pierre Beauviala
    • Michel Brault
    • Gillian Caldwell
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
    • 13Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 1 nomination

    Photos6

    Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)
    Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)
    Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)
    Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)
    Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (2000)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jean-Pierre Beauviala
    Michel Brault
    Michel Brault
    Gillian Caldwell
    Robin Cowie
    Robert Drew
    Jennifer Fox
    Jennifer Fox
    William Greaves
    William Greaves
    Gregg Hale
    Wolf Koenig
    Wolf Koenig
    Roman Kroitor
    Barbara Kopple
    Barbara Kopple
    Richard Leacock
    Richard Leacock
    Doug Leiterman
      Terence Macartney-Filgate
        Albert Maysles
        Albert Maysles
        D.A. Pennebaker
        D.A. Pennebaker
          Pierre Perrault
          Pierre Perrault
          Karel Reisz
          Karel Reisz
          • Director
            • Peter Wintonick
          • Writer
            • Kirwan Cox(narration written by)
          • All cast & crew
          • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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          Storyline

          Edit

          Did you know

          Edit
          • Connections
            Features Nanook of the North (1922)

          User reviews2

          Review
          Top review
          6/10
          flawed but interesting talking heads
          This movie is full of terrific interviews with important documentary directors and some fascinating clips from their films, but it's rather poorly constructed. First off, it implies that previous to the cinema verite movement documentaries were pretty much nothing more than civil defense training shorts. There's no attempt to give an idea of what good documentaries were like in the 40s, so while we are told there was a film revolution we don't see what came before. The film loves to trot out little bits of really bad old documentaries and thinks it's cute doing so, but it's really just distracting and unnecessary.

          In the last part the film loses structure as it dips into things like shaky camera TV series and MTV videos. Yes, cinema verite influenced those things, but it was also influencing the work of people like Richard Lester back in the 1960s, so why act like this is a new thing?

          On the other hand, the people interviewed are thoughtful and intelligent and if your a film buff you'll want to see what they have to say. Here the director seems to do a good job, as one hears telling comments about key scenes. The only interview handled poorly is with Wiseman; they show almost none of his footage and chop up his interview in what I suppose they think is a funny fashion. Perhaps they were uncomfortable with his attitude; he spends a lot of time questioning the whole "verite" concept. Seems like a very smart, thoughtful guy; I wish they'd let him speak.

          Worth watching, but could have been much better.
          helpful•7
          1
          • cherold
          • Apr 2, 2004

          Details

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          • Release date
            • June 9, 2000 (United States)
          • Country of origin
            • Canada
          • Official site
            • National Film Board (Canada)
          • Languages
            • French
            • English
          • Also known as
            • Σινεμά βεριτέ
          • Filming locations
            • Canada
          • Production company
            • National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
          • See more company credits at IMDbPro

          Technical specs

          Edit
          • Runtime
            3 hours 13 minutes
          • Color
            • Black and White
            • Color
          • Sound mix
            • Dolby
          • Aspect ratio
            • 1.66 : 1

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