Weekly Film Rec: The Staircase

If I'm not more diligent about writing, this blog may just turn into the "Weekly Film Rec" blog.

Anyway, I'm cheating a little on this one as my recommendation isn't a film, per se, but a documentary mini-series, The Staircase (enough commas for you?). I wasn't sure if I'd like The Staircase, so I only put the first disc high on my Netflix queue, and once I got hooked, I had to wait the entire holiday weekend to finish it. Curse my wariness! The cause of this care is that not long ago I watched Capturing the Friedman's and was greatly underwhelmed. While the crimes of these films are different, they both deal with the effectiveness of the judicial system. Are the men on trial innocent or guilty?

Capturing the Friedman's fails to paint its' subjects as anything but an obnoxious bickering family so the audience is predisposed to not care what happens to the father, if not wants him to be convicted. The Staircase, however, does a masterful job of letting the viewer into the lives of not only Michael Peterson (suspected of murdering his wife), but of his entire family. The access to these people could severely bias the viewer on the side of the defense. Sure Michael Peterson is kind of pompous and seems somewhat less than honest, but he has a lot of intelligent things to say. Not unexpected from a successful novelist, I suppose.

All of this is balanced out with the trial, which is fully covered by the filmmakers (I can't imagine how much footage was shot for this documentary). The evidence creates a roller coaster ride for the viewer (and, I'd imagine, the family). There are many surprises along the way that might seem contrived were this a TV show, but end up being truly shocking.

Throughout the entire 6-hour running time, I never felt the filmmaker's hand, which is rare for me. It doesn't feel manipulated, though after the fact, I had to question whether my opinion was influenced by the editing.

I don't want to give too much away as it's far more interesting to be an active viewer making one's own deductions, so just enjoy the drama unfold.

One last note: I find it incredibly interesting that The Staircase is produced by a French company (Canal +) and directed by a Frenchman. Perhaps the outsider perspective on the judicial system helped them create such an interesting document of the process.