True Films 3.0 - Kevin Kelly

Thin Blue Line
This unforgettable and legendary documentary relives a real crime from
multiple viewpoints. You get many versions of the event, each told from
the perspective of a different persuasive person. You don’t know who
to believe. As variations of the day’s events are replayed over and over
again, your sympathy is whipped back and forth from one plausible person
to the next. Eventually, after many changes of mind, the truth dawns
on you, as the director Errol Morris hopes it would, and it doesn’t jibe
with the verdict. But because you’ve gone down so many alternatives,
the final conclusion is hard to shake off. After watching this brilliant film
the pertinent judges ordered a retrial which generated a new verdict. This
documentary has the unique distinction of being an artwork responsible
for freeing an innocent man wrongly jailed. Not many films can say that.
The film is heroic, and more entertaining than the best fictionalized crime
show. However, the way the film influenced the courts, and the bizarre
events it unleashed in the lives those it touched, including the director,
demand a film of its own, a film that sadly has not been made. You’ll
have to read about it online. In any case, Thin Blue Line is the canonical
crime documentary, impeccably crafted, as it artfully plays upon your
belief, and shows how hard it is to discern the truth. It’s a great ride.
By Errol Morris
1988, 103 min.
Available from Amazon
Rent from Netflix
Is this the guy (right) who did it?
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