Post on 25-May-2017
transcript
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 1/12
Skip to content
Taste Of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists
taste of cinema
Main Menu
Reviews
Lists »
News
Features »
AboutWrite For Us
Advertising
Home > Features > Others > Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries
Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on TwoObservational Documentaries
24 May 2012 | Others | by David Zou
I’ve watched two documentaries recently,one is Hearts of Darkness:A Filmmaker’sApocalypse,which is considered to be one of the best making-of documentaries in any dvds/Blu-rays.The other is The Beatles:The First U.S. Visit,easily the best visual extensions of the greatest
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 2/12
band ever.What interests me about these two films are the intimacy the camera brought me,theintimacy between me and the characters,the intimacy between me and the truth.So I looked it up onInternet,and found 6 documentary sub-genres:
1. Poetic documentaries
2.Expository documentaries
3.Observational documentaries
4.Participatory documentaries
5.Reflexive documentaries
6.Performative documentaries
These two documentaries I watched obviously belong to the Observational documentariescategory,because the description of this sub-genre reads like this:
“Observational documentaries attempt to simply and spontaneously observe lived lifewith a minimum of intervention. Filmmakers who worked in this sub-genre often saw thepoetic mode as too abstract and the expository mode as too didactic. The firstobservational docs date back to the 1960’s; the technological developments whichmade them possible include mobile lighweight cameras and portable sound recordingequipment for synchronized sound. Often, this mode of film eschewed voice-overcommentary, post-synchronized dialogue and music, or re-enactments. The filmsaimed for immediacy, intimacy, and revelation of individual human character in ordinarylife situations.”
Also I found Gimme Shelter in the examples,another great documentary about a famous band(TheRolling Stones) from Maysles Brothers,and the term “ synchronized sound” reminds of the scene inthe Beatles doc where the boys listened to their own voices with the recording equipment from thefilm crew,these two facts confirm that my categorization is correct.
After comparing the 6 kinds above,I found Observational documentaries is the one which respectsthe reality the most,or you can say it is the one which trusts there can be a certain sense ofabsolute truth under cameras.Actually it is the very definition of documentary of mine beforereading the post,of course I’ve seen or heard of famous ones like Joris Ivens’ Rain,Marker’s Sans
Soleil(Poetic documentaries),Vertov’s The Man with a Movie Camera(Participatory&Reflexivedocumentary), and Alain Resnais’ Night And Fog(Performative documentaries),but this is the firsttime I became fully aware that documentaries can be visually satisfying and highly skeptical ofrealism.Anyway,we are talking about Observational documentaries,so let’s go back to it.
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 3/12
Since Observational documentaries is the most satisfying kind for audiences who are lookingfor absolute truth,the making of them is not easy at all,especially when you are shootingcelebrities.Besides the equipment issue I’ve mentioned above,chance and access to get thecamera close enough to the central character are another two big factors here.
When we say something is rare,impossible to duplicate,that’s because it’s made purely bychance.Did Eleanor Coppola know his husband was gonna have so many problems during theshooting of Apocalypse Now before she shot anything? Did Maysles Brothers know The First U.S.Visit of Beatles would create so much heat before they decided to follow the young boys? Theanswers to both questions would probably be NO.Accidents like the temporary withdraw of militaryhelicopters by the Philippine government,as well as the sudden heart disease of MartinSheen,those things never occurred to the director’s mind.Before Beatles came to the U.S.,AlbertMaysles even did know who they were,let alone predicting what the trip means to American pop-culture history.These two documentaries are great,because the events are self-dramatic and sohuge,and the directors happened to captured those moments.
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 4/12
Permission for the close intimacy plays another big part of these two doc’s success,if you want tobring intimacy to you audience with your camera,you have to be as near as the central character ofthe doc first.The one great thing Eleanor Coppola did is she married to Fransis Ford Coppola,andshe made the best of it.I’ve seen many making-of docs in dvds,the actual shooting set footage isnot rare at all,the rare thing about Hearts of Darkness is the camera was at the director’shome,shooting his anxiety and agony,it is such a real situation of an artist’s struggle.Also in theBeatles doc,Maysles Brother had the permission to shoot in Beatles’ room even the cars they werein,they were breathing the same air with the band and my feeling was almost as authentic as theirs.
So you know why I’m so into this sub-genre.Did it bring the truth of history to me? Yes,and No,Icould have read all these.It is the authentic state of human-being which fascinates me,I could reallyfeel the charm of these artists just like I had been there with them.I wish I could see more of thiskind but I knew it deep in my heart that it is more of the chance,than the director’s skill to makesuch films,so I will treasure these experiences and wish you could see them too.
What are your thoughts on Observational Documentaries or documentaries in general?And do you believe film camera can capture absolute realism?
SHARE THIS STORY
Other Brilliant Movie Posts On The Web
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 5/12
14 Movies YouMust See in 2014
10 Lamest SuperHero Origins
Old School:Where Are They
Now?
8 Movie HeroesYou Didn't Realise
Probably DiedHorrible Deaths
9 Times 'WinterSoldier' Revealed
Future MarvelMovie Plots
10 Movies WhereThe Bad Guy Wins
Everything WeKnow About
'Prometheus 2'
Explaining the'Captain America2' End of Credits
Scenes
Like Us on Facebook!
Find us on Facebook
Taste of Cinema
You like this.
You and 39,265 others like Taste of Cinema.
Facebook social plugin
Like
4 Comments Taste of Cinema Login
Sort by Best Share
Join the discussion…
michaelgsmith • 2 years ago
David, this is a nice post but it reads like you are implying Eleanor Coppola directed Hearts of
Favorite
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 6/12
The 20 Most Memorable Films Set in SanFrancisco
2 comments • 3 days ago
Dave Anderson — Star Trek IV?
15 Films So Unique They Could Never BeReplicated
4 comments • 19 days ago
CatfishJohn47 — Excellent list.Abide, Sir Miller.
Abide...
25 Of The Best Short Films You Can Watch
Online
5 comments • 9 days ago
alan mills — what about WRESTLING YETIS ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
11 Great Films That Inspire Uncomfortable
Viewing
4 comments • 10 days ago
Pam Joseph — I can't say that I've watched
#10 through #2 but, I have seen Happiness.
ALSO ON TASTE OF CINEMA
• Reply •
David, this is a nice post but it reads like you are implying Eleanor Coppola directed Hearts of
Darkness. While she of course shot all of the location footage, that footage was later heavily
edited by the film's true directors, Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper, who also shot a lot of
new footage for the movie. It is ultimately their perspective on the events that we are watching.
• Reply •
David Zou • 2 years ago michaelgsmith
Thanks for pointing out my mistake,Mike.I did notice the other two directors when I
looked it up on IMDB,but I just take it for granted that Eleanor shot all the footage and the
guys did the editing.The only point I wanted to make here is that Eleanor had the
privilege to shoot at home,where Coppola's most realistic state was exposed to the
camera,thus Observational Documentaries took effect,and it was great because of the
rare footage shot by Eleanor.
• Reply •
Steven Flores • 2 years ago
I had never seen either of those films but would Lost in La Mancha and Burden of Dreams
count as observational documentaries?
They're both interesting films about the making of a film and all of the trouble that happens.
Notably the former where Terry Gilliam was unable to create his dream project.
• Reply •
David Zou • 2 years ago Steven Flores
I have not seen either of them,Steven,though Burden of Dreams is on my watchlist,and I
might write a comparison between it and Hearts of Darkness.
Do they count as observational documentaries? I think it depends,if they are like
HOD,which consists of mainly actual shooting footage,YES.If they are like most of the
making-of docs I saw in dvds,are made of stills and interviews afterwards,then NO.
WHAT'S THIS?
Share ›
Share ›
Share ›
Share ›
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 7/12
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... #10 through #2 but, I have seen Happiness.
It was actually …
Subscribe Add Disqus to your site
Sidebar
Subscription Options:
Advertisement
Couple Recreates Classic Movie Scenes With Cardboard And Their Baby
11 Crazy Ways Daniel Day-Lewis Prepared For Roles
24 Short Films Of Famous Directors You Can Watch On Youtube
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 8/12
The 15 Greatest Long Takes In Cinema History
25 Greatest Cinematographers In Film History
20 Terrible Actors Who Can’t Actually Act
20 Disturbing Movies That Will Shake You For Days
The 20 Most Dangerous Movies Ever Made
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 9/12
24 Mind-Bending Movies That Will Melt Your Brain
30 Great Movie In-Jokes You Probably Didn’t Notice
The 20 Greatest Character Actors Of Our Time
20 Movie Twist Endings That Left Us Totally Shocked
21 Great Low-Budget Sci-Fi Films You Need To Watch
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 10/12
20 Movies That Were Extremely Difficult To Make
The 30 Greatest Cult Movies Of All Time
20 Movie Tearjerkers That Will Make Grown Men Cry
16 Strangest Movies Everyone Should See
30 Essential Japanese Films You Need To Watch
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 11/12
25 Film Noirs And Neonoirs You Probably Haven’t Seen
17 Disturbing Horror Movies You Will Never Watch Again
Dig more lists
Write For Us
Copyright © 2014. Taste Of Cinema – Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. All rights reserved.
10/4/2014 Closely Watched Reality – Thoughts on Two Observational Documentaries | Taste of Cinema
http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2012/closely-watched-reality-thoughts-on-two-observational-documentaries/ 12/12
Tweet
4
Like
StumbleUpon
Submit