Frederick Wiseman

by Joshua Siegel (Editor), Marie-Christine de Navacelle (Editor), Andrew Delbanco (Contributor)

In a career that spans more than four decades, Frederick Wiseman has made nearly forty films that together form a monumental chronicle of late-twentieth-century institutional and cultural life. From his controversial debut, Titicut Follies (1967), about a state prison hospital for the criminally insane, to his recent critical and commercial successes La Danse — The Paris Opera Ballet (2009) and Boxing Gym (2010), his films pose ethical, philosophical, and aesthetic dilemmas that are both urgent and vexing. Frederick Wiseman, the first publication in English to provide a comprehensive overview of Wiseman's work to date (including projects for theater and opera), features original essays by a variety of distinguished writers, critics, and artists, and by Wiseman himself. Richly illustrated with stills from his films, this volume is an incisive examination of one of cinema's most fearless and innovative filmmakers.

Genres: Film

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2010

Reviews

[Evan]

I'm sure one of the parlor games among movie buffs would be to name to greatest living directors. And I'm sure the usual high-profile active candidates would include Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan and so forth...and veterans such as Woody Allen, William Friedkin, Terrence Malick or European masters such as Alexander Sokurov, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnes Varda and Marta Meszaros. Until his death in 2016 I would have nominated the Polish master, Andrzej Wajda, as the world's greatest director of our time. Yet, none of the aforementioned have accumulated a filmography as impressive or as important as Frederick Wiseman, who notoriously entered the scene in 1967 with the powerful and much-banned Titicut Follies, a masterwork the likes of which had not quite been seen before; a mercilessly honest, alternately cold and tender, moving and voyeuristic and ironic examination of life in a Massachusetts mental facility, filmed in stark black and white. In the decades since, Wiseman has churned out more than 40 features examining American life by examining its institutions: government, schools, public housing, the military, law enforcement, the health care industry, the meat industry, retail, fashion, parks, and many more. I've seen many of his films and am always impressed by the meticulous, patient, comprehensive and unsensational manner in which he views his topics. Wiseman never preaches, never works for the obvious point of irony. He lets everyday people speak for themselves within the contexts of their worlds. Often, his subjects are poignant examples of people trying to do the right thing despite institutionally imposed obstacles. These works have no corollary among any filmmaker who has ever lived, and they make Wiseman, in my opinion, the greatest living "director."

I remember that Siskel & Ebert once, to my absolute shock, actually mentioned Wiseman and recommended his superb film, Public Housing when it aired on public television in 1998. That was the only time, to my knowledge, that Wiseman ever received any mass attention from well-known critics. Instead of constantly referring to Scorsese as the greatest living movie maker, they should have been designating Wiseman as such.

No, I've not read this book. If I can find it I will. Just thought you should know about Wiseman, since the media and the purveyors of popular taste do not care if you do.

KR@KY 2018

[Max]

My sister-in-law bought this for me a few years ago, and I dug it out yesterday because I've been weighing among various Wiseman films to see at the Lincoln Center retrospective. I read Fred's essay out loud to my 9-month-old daughter. I was surprised when he described using his "sun gun" to help police apprehend a prostitute in a dark basement while filming Law and Order. My daughter did not care.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read for fans looking for available breadcrumbs on insight into Wiseman films. The interview with Wiseman is a little perfunctory, but the statements seem genuine and what you see on film is actually what it appears to be. He is methodical and the result is effective when you put in the work. Other people in the book try to offer their opinions on what makes these movies so special, but it doesn’t always resonate.

MS: Wiseman briefly discusses how he believes the camera doesn’t change behavior, since people in these institutional roles don’t think what they are doing is unusual.

[Emma Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the essays are hits some are duds. Enjoyed hearing from Wiseman. Epilogue is beautiful