structure of which were reminiscent of features. while over in the UK Nick Broomlield began inserting himself into his documentaries (starting
with l988‘s Driving Me Crazy) as a catalyst for the action he caught on camera. making himself
a protagonist or character. ()ther' documentary makers followed suit. most notably Michael Moore with 2002's Bun'littgfin' (‘almnbine and
Spurlock with 2004‘s Super Size Me. both of
which became global box office smashes. But it was Glaswegian director Kevin Macdonald who took documentary filrnrnaking to a new level with his l99‘) film about the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich ()lympics. One Day in September. Macdonald set out to make a political thriller as riveting as any fictional
treatment of the story. and while he came under
tire from some documentary purists for doing so. he won an Oscar for his efforts.
It‘s possible to trace cinematic documentaries further back in lilrn history (to Peter Watkins‘ 1%4 docu-drama about the Jacobite uprising Cal/mien. for example). although cinematically- styled documentaries made for and released in cinemas have become increasingly common since the turn of the millennium. The increase in the theatrical distribution of documentaries is largely down to the phenomenal commercial success of Moore and Spurlock's lilrns. but also to docs as varied as former US presidential candidate Al (iore’s global warming lecture An Inemtt‘etrient Truth and the French nature film The March of the Penguins. Coming to a cinema
near you before the year is out are: Jimmy Carter Man from Plains. a portrait of the ex-president.
Stee 2. a mountain climbing adventure. and 0‘ l e .
'lime and City. Terence Davies‘ bittersweet love letter to his hometown Liverpool.
Audiences are responding to these films because they can now be seen in cinemas and because they make for very good viewing (it‘s no coincidence that Man an Wire won the audience award at the lillil“ last month). But aside from their aesthetic qualities. these documentaries are telling stories that features are failing to engage with. Where. for example. fictional treatments of the war in Iraq have skirted around the subject or been overly introspective (think of the US—set AWOL soldier dramas In tlte Valley aflilah and Stop-Inn). breathtakingly urgent documentaries such as Standard Operating l’raeetlure. 72m to the Dar/(side and Iraq in Fragments have gone right to the black heart of the bad war. They may not make for easy viewing. but they‘re telling stories in ways that can‘t be found elsewhere in cinemas. or on the small screen in our homes.
What‘s really driving this new surge of cinematic documentaries is filmmakers‘ efforts to find new ways to tell new stories. Speaking in
2006 about his fiction debut. The Last King of
Seat/and. Macdonald said. ‘I like messing with people’s heads a bit. so that they don‘t quite know what parts are true and what parts aren't. I want people to come out and say. “I wonder what parts of the film were true?" and then go off and do some reading around the subject.‘
Recent films that blur the lines between fiction and documentary include Man on Wire (far left) and (clockwise from right) Super Size Me, Bowling For Columbine, March of the Penguins, [REC], Cloverfleld and The Eleventh Hour
Long gone, then, is the time when documentaries were dry, factual accounts of people. places and events. Fact continues to prove stranger than fiction, but documentaries are now also frequently funnier and more exciting, formally innovative, emotionally affecting and provocative than features. As a result, just as documentary makers have freely appropriated techniques from features, so too have feature filmmakers pilfered from documentaries (see the recent doc-style Manhattan monster movie Cloverfield, POV Spanish horror film [REC], Paul Greengrass’ United 93, and. come to that, Greengrass’ Jason Bourne thrillers). In fact, filmmakers are crossing between genres to make fictional and factual films. Broomfield’s last two, Ghosts and Battle for Haditha, were features made in a documentary style. Meanwhile, Davies’ return to cinema for the first time since his 2000 Edith Wharton period drama The House of Mirth is his previously mentioned Liverpool documentary, while the Jimmy Carter doc has been directed by Jonathan Silence of the Lambs Demme.
All of this suggests filmmakers no longer recognise fomial boundaries between factual and fictional films. And the business side of the industry is following suit. On the evidence of Man on Wire, that blurring of these genres can only be good for the cinema-going public.
Man on Wire is out now on general release.
31 Jul-7 Aug 2008 ml mar 13