When watching examples of films classified under the early 1960’s movement known as the cinema Verite the first thing that struck me in the examples I watched being Don’t look back by D.A Pennebaker and Primary filmed by Robert Drew, D.A. Pennebaker, Ricky Leacock, and Albert Maysles; was seeing a form of documentary film that has alluded me before, the films rawness, its un-glosses, un-sugar coated finish and its constant attempt to break down the sense of a fourth wall was unparalleled to any form of documentary film I have seen before. As an audience member you find yourself thrown into the subjects life, with what can feel like unbridled access to the subject and their surroundings. The success of this is notably to do with the strike guide lines put in place by the creators of the movement (the most influential, debatably being Richard Leacock and Robert drew) stating that only hand held cameras where permitted so no tripod or dollies, no overlaid sound, what you get out of the camera is what you use. The filmmakers can’t ask any questions or ask anybody to do anything. At the time would have been a whole new way of thinking evidently aided by the Advances in camera technology. Drew spent over a million dollars developing a 16mm film camera small enough to be hand held and light enough to be usable. This meant that the camera could invade people’s lives and document them like no one had seen before. I found that the style the films where shot in and adhering to the guide lines put in place helped add to the scene of realism. I also think after seeing these films that this scene of realism can be diluted in more modern styles of documentary filming.
Bellow are short clips from the personal favourit part of the film Don’t look back.
Don’t look back (1967)
D.A. Pennebaker
