Educational Media Reviews Online

Domestic Violence is Frederick Wiseman's 32nd film. His vision as a completely independent filmmaker and producer is one that chronicles American life without compromise. His films began to record the last third of the 20th century and the beginnings of the 21st, and in many ways can serve as archival documents of how America lived, worked, and behaved from the 1960s on. Wiseman's vast catalogue of institutions profiled includes education, medicine, religion, the military, welfare, housing, retail, food, the community, the workplace, leisure and the arts. One of his most compelling films, La Comédie française His detractors, and there are only a few, complain that his films are demanding to watch and should be given an introduction in order to provide context. Wiseman, however, refuses to offer easy solutions and thus forces his audience to work it out for themselves. In a June 1970 interview, he observed, "The way I try to make a documentary is that there's no separation between the audience watching the film and the events in the film. It's like the business of getting rid of the proscenium arch in the theatre." Thirty-two years later his comments still stand true. Attention to details in the imagery allows the viewers to construct their own narrative and to assemble their own individual ideas to form personal interpretations. The passage of time is noted, yet no conventional elements are used except for a sustained and detailed exposition of situations, whether routine comments or those of extreme stress and anguish. His style remains constant: the dependence on hand-held camera and direct sound, the superb editing that only comes into consciousness with careful viewing, and the use of film as the shooting medium, all add to his distinction from other documentarists. This style becomes more apparent now in the age of cheaply made video documentaries dominated by manipulative voice-over, intrusive non-diegetic music and a preponderance of still, lifeless images.

Domestic Violence was shot in about five weeks but the editing took over a year. There was more than 110 hours of footage to edit down to 3 hours and 16 minutes. It distills the harrowing experience and presents the various facets of the ugly side of human power and control. The police respond to calls for help and attempt to help the victims, crisis hotline workers staff phone lines, the Spring Shelter admits a number of women who are then shown participating in workshops/therapy sessions as well as their children who attend classes and group sessions. This Tampa, Florida shelter (one of 38 in Florida) admits about 1650 people each year of which 1000 are children. The average person admitted is a woman around the age of 26 with 2 or 3 children. There are also approximately a dozen men admitted every year as well. According to the statistics presented by one of the staff members giving an orientation tour, domestic violence consumes a third of all police time.

Formally structured as always, the film begins with a long shot of the Tampa skyline in the morning and ends with a similar shot at night. The days come and go and domestic violence remains unfettered. Many different groups could greatly benefit from watching this video and using sections of it as the basis for their discussions. The sections on police interaction with victims would be a good teaching tool for police academies, the therapy sessions would greatly enhance counseling training as well as academic areas of psychology and sociology. But perhaps, most importantly it would be of great help if it became part of the small collections available in women's shelters. For victims of domestic abuse, to know that others have survived, would indeed initiate the healing process. Finally, as always, this is an important document for popular culture, communication studies and any academic area dealing with documentary.

Highly Recommended