CMST 370
Fall, 2012
Professor Paul Lippert
Monroe Rm. 313
Tu 3-4, W, Th 2-4
Tel.: 3482
Film Genres: The Documentary Film
Nothing is more fundamental to modern thinking than the distinction between fiction and
nonfiction. Literacy created its own standard of truth, the literal, which henceforth defined itself
in opposition to what came to be known as figurative, poetical, allegorical, metaphoric, or
“symbolic” truth. Understanding the relation between these two modes of truth has been crucial
to many major intellectual controversies, such as the debate over the compatibility of science and
religion. Like literacy itself, nothing makes us different from people in premodern, traditional
societies more than this basic change in consciousness.
But just as literacy brought with it change in consciousness, electronic media have been
sowing the seeds of another change just as fundamental as the first: the dissolution of this
distinction between fiction and nonfiction. Nowhere are the beginnings of this change more
apparent than in the documentary film. During the first half of its history, documentary style and
technique consisted of two schools: one which based its truth on the authority of language,
usually embodied in a voice-over narrator or “expert” being interviewed, and which used
imagery mainly as illustration of what was being said; another which sought truth in the
cinematic image itself, with little or no verbal commentary. But both schools took for granted
the literal standard of truth; both defined themselves as being categorically different from fiction
and the very different kind of truth to be found in it. Any of the qualities of compelling fictional
narrative found in documentaries of either school tended to be seen as ornamental at best, impure
and fraudulent at worst. The only disagreement arose from questions of how documentary film
might be an “art” and not merely a form of reportage using images. Throughout this part of its
history, supporters of the documentary were always vulnerable to the challenge, “Why not just
read about it?”
This began to change over the course of the latter half of the twentieth century. Cutting-edge
documentaries dropped scripted narration and reliance on structured interviews in favor of the
styles and techniques of fictional film. As these new modes of documentary production came to
be accepted, among both filmmakers and audiences, they began to encourage and support a
whole new logic and standard of truth: one in which the distinction between fiction and
nonfiction is blurred. And, encouraged by the proliferation of new literal-image technologies,
the fictional film as well has taken on many characteristics of the documentary. This trend
brought with it at the turn of the century an array of new hybrid forms: the mock documentary,
the pseudo-documentary, the semi-documentary, the docudrama, a renaissance in realism, new
developments in the epic and historical dramas, and a whole range of new films that defy
categorization and consciously challenge the distinction between documentary and fictional film.
What this will bring in the future, of course, is not yet known. But we are living through a
colorful, exciting period of cultural change. Success will come to those who can understand
these changes and make informed judgments about how they might further develop. This class
will be devoted to examining how they got started, analyzing specific films that exemplify the
range of new trends, and speculating on what these new trends portend for the future.
Required Reading: Jack C. Ellis, The Documentary Idea (Prentice Hall, 1989)
Suggested Reading: Stella Bruzzi, New Documentary, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2006)
Course Requirements:
1. Weekly Reaction Papers (50%)
2. Take-Home Essay Exam on Ellis (50%)
Date
Film
A28
This is Spinal Tap
S4
Capturing the Friedmans
S11
Capturing Capturing: Documentary of a Documentary and Its Effects
S18
Medium Cool
S25
The Clowns
O2
Fata Morgana, Lessons of Darkness
O16
Sans Soleil
O23
I’m Not There
O30
I’m Still Here
N6
Exit Through the Giftshop
N13
Catfish
N20
Blair Witch Project? Borat? Other?
N27
The Mill and the Cross
D4
Celine and Julie Go Boating
D11
Celine and Julie Go Boating, continued