The term �documentary� can often be confusing to define because of the root �document.� It is easy to assume that because documents represent the truth in society, the documentary is also a document of the truth. However this definition over looks the artistic component of the documentary as a work and therefore is destined to fail. In truth documentary films take the real, the actual, and give it a frame through which to understand the truth. Therefore, the documentary is not the truth itself, but a certain framing window that gives a specific view of the truth. It is this aspect of offering up an interpretation of the truth that is the most important part of the documentary because it gives the documentary and even the truth a meaning.
One reason the documentary is not the reality, or the truth, is because it would simply be impossible to achieve such a concept on film. As stated by Trinh T. Minh-ha in Renov, �You must re-create reality because reality runs away; reality denies reality. You must first interpret it, or re-create it. . . I find that the aesthetic of a documentary comes from the artificial aspect of the document . . . it has to be more beautiful than realism, and therefore it has to be composed. . . (Franju)� (99). Even if a filmmaker tries to capture reality, from the second he positions the camera he is interfering with reality and therefore not capturing the entire truth of any situation. The filmmaker must embrace the fact that the documentary is not reality. It is through the utilization of �the artificial aspect of the document� that the filmmaker can re-create the reality into a documentary.
Robert Drew understood the gap between reality and documentary and used it to his advantage. In Primary , Drew does not present the election as actuality. Instead, he composed a perspective through which to view the primary election and let the audience see it through this perspective. This is accomplished through manipulating the camera and editing to give a specific view and tone to the primary election and the film itself. As Phillip Rosen states, �. . . part of the stake in making documentaries is controlling documents, indexical traces of the presence of a real past. . .� (65). When Jacqueline Kennedy speaks before the audience this controlling of the documents can be seen. Instead of showing a typical front view of the stage and of Jacqueline, the camera zooms in on her hands in the white gloves fidgeting behind her back. The film does not even show her face during this speech. It is through the view of her fingers though that the film portrays who Jacqueline is and how she feels at the moment, which is most notably nervous. The portrayal of Jacqueline is also seen in the shots of her beautiful, young, vibrant face followed by the elder, dull face of Humphrey’s wife. This forces the viewer to make a comparison between the two women. As Trinh T. Minh-ha states in Renov, �To compose is not always synonymous with ordering-so-as-to-persuade, and to give the filmed document another sense, another meaning, is not necessarily to distort it� (99). This is what the view of the women in Primary achieves. It does not distort the images of the women, each is truthfully represented, but the filmmaker does not leave them to stand as images alone. The filmmaker offers them up as a comparison to make the viewer think about their meaning and make an unconscious judgment. Through this comparison the filmmaker is giving the viewer a way to interpret the documents of reality and therefore giving the film a meaning.
The Maysles also present a real event in Salesman that is in the form of a documentary. Just in the same way as Primary , Salesman gives a specific perspective on the Bible selling business. This business could have been viewed from the perspective of the boss, who is telling the salesmen to sell more bibles, or it could have been viewed from the perspective of the customers, who squirm under the pressure of the salesmen. Instead, a very sympathetic view is taken towards the salesmen. Georges Franju says, �. . . Sure the documentary part is true, but all around the documentary sections there’s an interpretation. . .� (98). This is true of Salesman because the footage is not staged and the salesmen are not actors, but the way in which scenes are shot, the scenes that are included versus the scenes that are left out, all add a frame of meaning to the film. Everything about this movie makes the viewer empathize with the salesmen and see the situation from their level. When the boss is making the speech at the meeting telling the salesmen to sell more bibles and stop making excuses the viewer naturally thinks, �But they are working so hard, it isn’t their fault.� Without the guide of the filmmakers subtle hints viewers would not automatically think this of bible salesmen.
The scenes that are selected for use in Salesman also help give it meaning and point toward the understanding of the subject matter that the filmmaker desires. Some of the scenes in Salesman are of the actual selling of the bibles in the customers’ houses. These scenes are integral and almost a given for the subject. However, other scenes like the car ride to the houses, the hotel rooms, and the meetings, are the scenes that truly give the film its meaning. These are the scenes that give the salesmen a humanistic side and guide the viewer toward understanding the struggle these men go through. However, it is important that the filmmakers do not manipulate the salesmen to say certain things nor do they stage false situations, they simply fine tune the way real situations are presented to an audience in order to get the effect and the meaning desired.
The documentary gains its meaning not through the historical footage and factual representation, but through the interpretation of those facts and footage. This makes the genre of documentary a very unique and powerful medium. As Hans Richter says, �With the documentary approach the film gets back to its fundamentals. . . By selection, elimination and coordination of natural elements, a film form evolves which is original and not bound by theatrical or literary tradition. . .� (94). As seen in both Primary and Salesman , the footage is real, the people are real, the events are real, but the documentary is not the real. These documentaries are one way to view the world of the primary elections or bible selling. These views are established and reinforced through scene selection, camera angles, and editing.
Works Cited
Primary . Dir. Robert Drew. Docurama., 1960.
Renov, Michael. Theorizing Documentary . New York : Routledge, 1993.
Salesman. Dir. Albert Maysles and David Maysles. Criterion Collection., 1969.
Class Written For : English 4300 (Rhetoric of Documentaries)
Word Count : 1,123
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