Path: news.mks.com!worf.mks.com!viktor From: news@daily-bugle.newsops.execpc.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews Subject: REVIEW: Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996) Followup-To: rec.arts.movies.current-films Date: 17 Oct 1996 14:52:39 GMT Organization: Eschatfische Communications (fische.com) Lines: 102 Sender: viktor@mks.com Approved: viktor@mks.com Message-ID: <545h7n$nfv@news.mks.com> Reply-To: esch@fische.com (Dave Cowen) NNTP-Posting-Host: centi.mks.com Summary: r.a.m.r. #06107 Keywords: author=Cowen Originator: viktor@worf.mks.com
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996)
A film review by Dave Cowen
Copyright 1996 Dave Cowen
There's a giddy moment in the second half of PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS when, entirely through events that would not have happened had the documentary filmmakers not been there, a whole new spin on the circumstances surrounding the murders that PARADISE LOST is documenting develops. Perhaps MAN BITES DOG was prophetic after all: some of the best documentaries we've seen over the last few years (ROGER & ME, HEIDI FLEISS: HOLLYWOOD MADAM) have featured the documentary filmmaker as protagonist, not just blindly documenting a person or event, but actively playing the part of what Errol Morris called the "detective-director," doing research and pushing themselves directly into the lives of the individuals being chronicled by the documentary.
In PARADISE LOST: THE CHILD MURDERS AT ROBIN HOOD HILLS, originally filmed on video for an HBO series, directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky follow the case of a triple homicide where three young children were attacked in West Memphis. When being pursued by the police (for relatively unstated reasons) a young man, Jesse, fingers Damien (a young man in the "goth" lifestyle who reads about Wicca and listens to Slayer) as well as Jason, a boy who frequently "hung out" with Damien, as being participants in the murders. Jesse's defense claims that the testimony was "forced on him" by the police, and that Jesse's low IQ prevented him from being able to provide rational answers to the types of interrogation methods used by the police, causing him to repeat the scenario the police presented to him, not the actual events that happened. Ultimately, in spite of a possible deal that would lessen the impact of a possible guilty verdict, Jesse refuses to testify against Damien or Jason. Damien's defense indicates that there is no physical evidence linking Damien to the crime, and that he is being persecuted for his "style" -- the clothes he wears, the music he listens to, the books he reads. Jason's defense argues that guilt by association is no reason to put away a 16-year old when there's no physical proof of any association with the crime.
While the bulk of the movie spends time in the court, the filmmakers also focus on the parents of the murdered boys. At first, it would seem that it would be impossible not to feel sympathy for parents whose children had been murdered in such a brutal manner... but as the movie progresses, the attitudes and actions of the parents, one in particular, begin to grow more and more disturbing -- in such a way to suggest that, given the opportunity, they would be capable of just as brutal an action as the murders of their children in retribution to those who have been accused with little evidence as backup. A shot of the parents naming pumpkins after the accused and then blowing them up with semi-automatic weapons is particularly disturbing.
As they did in their 1992 documentary BROTHER'S KEEPER, Berlinger and Sinofsky focus on much more than just the trial, bringing in subtexts focusing on nature of stupidity (and the perception of it), the nature of religion in a small town, the importance of image, the legal issue of reasonable doubt, and much more. The film is not 100% objective: while the filmmakers portray almost everyone in the film as being equally vain or stupid (the exception being the 16 year- old Jason, who seems to be the most intelligent and calm individual participating in the proceedings), the filmmakers use haunting camera shots that play on many levels that subtly point the viewer to the filmmakers' agendas and ideas. This can hardly be considered a flaw, however: a two and a half hour presentation of trials and events that spanned months of time can not be objective, and the way Berlinger and Sinofsky put the case together for the viewer, offering their opinion in a manner that is not blatant or manipulative, keeps the filmmakers from being so biased as to present an inaccurate view of the proceedings. To describe the kind of brilliant shots which visually provide the clues and subtext referred to above would be to give away many of the important and shocking events in the film -- something that would damage the enjoyment of the film greatly for the viewer. There are a host of surprises, many unintentionally very funny, in PARADISE LOST, that could be ruined by a badly-placed spoiler. Despite the fact that PARADISE LOST is a documentary that runs over two hours, don't be under the impression that it will be boring or longwinded: like the similarly impressive documentary HOOP DREAMS, the film is impossible to predict... creating lots of edge-of- your-seat suspense along the way.
PARADISE LOST is ultimately a much more accomplished film than the earlier BROTHER'S KEEPER done by the same team. In PARADISE LOST we simply look at a situation through the eyes of the filmmaker, letting the words, actions, and camera-level view of others tell the story, where in BROTHER'S KEEPER, the filmmakers plied the subjects of the film with pointed and obtrusive questions. By being active participants in the proceedings, yet never straying or manipulating the facts in any way, PARADISE LOST becomes an incredibly fascinating, enjoyable and successful documentary -- and one that lends itself to portray a disturbing but accurate view of human nature lurking below the surface of both the film and our communities.
Dave Cowen (esch@fische.com) Eschatfische. ------------------------------------ http://www.fische.com
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