No book on documentary film has ever analyzed in such detail the work of a single filmmaker. In impeccable close readings of his films, Tom Benson and Carolyn Anderson explore how Frederick Wiseman has elaborated his widely admired sensibility. A special feature is an extended chapter on the legal difficulties encountered by Wiseman's first documentary, Titicut Follies, an unflinching depiction of conditions in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took Wiseman to ...
Read More
No book on documentary film has ever analyzed in such detail the work of a single filmmaker. In impeccable close readings of his films, Tom Benson and Carolyn Anderson explore how Frederick Wiseman has elaborated his widely admired sensibility. A special feature is an extended chapter on the legal difficulties encountered by Wiseman's first documentary, Titicut Follies, an unflinching depiction of conditions in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts took Wiseman to court, seeking to prevent the exhibition of Titicut Follies. In New York State, three judges refused to issue an injunction against the film. In Massachusetts, the film was the subject of a sensational series of legislative hearings and a court trial, in which the principals gave very different stories of the conditions and terms under which the film had been negotiated and produced. Wiseman, himself an attorney, exchanged charges and countercharges with Massachusetts Attorney General Elliot Richardson, and the controversy split the civil liberties community. Judge Harry Kalus, calling Titicut Follies "a nightmare of ghoulish obscenities," not only ruled for the Commonwealth but ordered that the film be destroyed. On appeal, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court modified the Kalus ruling, allowing the film to be seen only by professional audiences. Titicut Follies became the only American film whose exhibition is restricted for reasons other than obscenity or national security. After Titicut Follies, Wiseman went on to become a major independent documentary producer. Many of his films have been shown on public television in the United States and at film festivals around the world. The films are widely admired and often highly controversial. Wiseman has developed a unique cinematic rhetoric that draws from both the documentary and fiction traditions to describe American institutions: a high school, basic training, a monastery, a juvenile court, a primate research center, a welfare agency, the Panama canal zone, and a department store. Benson and Anderson scrutinize each of these films, record the reactions of some of his subjects and audiences, and present the heretofore neglected contributions of his four cinematographers: John Marshall, Richard Leiterman, William Brayne, and John Davey.
Read Less
Add this copy of Reality Fictions: The Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $15.00, very good condition, Sold by Friends of the TorranceLibrary rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Torrance, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good in very good dust jacket. Clean pages and tight binding. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 424 p. Contains: Illustrations. Hermeneutics; 4. Audience: General/trade. Thank you for supporting the Friends of the Torrance Library. Your purchase helps us to provide adult and children's programs and new library services.
Add this copy of Reality Fictions: the Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $19.67, very good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University Pre.
Add this copy of Reality Fictions: the Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $22.00, good condition, Sold by Common Crow Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Good in very good jacket. Octavo, black cloth boards in dust jacket, book is in good condition, jacket is in very good, jacket shows edgewear with some curling, book shows mild wear to boards, previous owner's signature on the front flyleaf and mostly mild pencil notes scattered thoughout, 404pp.
Add this copy of Reality Fictions: the Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $24.42, very good condition, Sold by Books From California rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Simi Valley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University Pre.
Add this copy of Reality Fictions: the Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $24.43, good condition, Sold by Gardner's Used Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tulsa, OK, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University Pre.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good jacket. Hardcover with dust jacket. Book and jacket are in great shape. Book appears totally clean throughout after a good scan. Strong binding, very minimal wear overall. Tulsa's best used bookstore. Located on South Mingo Road since 1991. No-hassle return policy if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of Reality Fictions, the Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $35.00, like new condition, Sold by Sutton Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Norwich, VT, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University Press, 1989.
Add this copy of Reality Fictions: the Films of Frederick Wiseman to cart. $52.34, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1989 by Southern Illinois University P.
