Movie: Capturing the Friedmans

Capturing the Friedmans is simply remarkable.

A father and son of a middle class Jewish family in Great Neck are accused of mass child molestation.

Tragic, yes, but what makes this film is that the bulk of this movie is made of home videos by the Friedman family themselves.

It was raw, unedited, videoblogging of a family's total disintegration. The lies, the deceit, the emotion...EVERYTHING is captured 'real time' (1988) by one of the other brothers and everyone (except the mother) is a willing participant.

And, to add a few twists...the film adds some seroius reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the two defendants (both of whom plead guilty).

I don't think I've ever seen a documentary like this.

What's even more touching about it is the early footage of the father and the boys and their happy family life.

As a parent, you think, sometimes, about all of the things that could happen to your kids as they grow up, of how life could play out in bizarre ways, but the reality is, you can't possibly fathom the extnet of life's twist and turns...this movie drives that home in a poignant way.

So sad to see how lives get destroyed sometimes.

Wish I could remember who suggested it, but definitely worth it. A few solid suprising twists.