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Murder most fair? Paradise Lost aims a camera at American justice by JOANNE LATIMER
"We honestly thought we were going down there to make a film about guilty teenagers. The local press coverage was so one-sided--about these devil-worshippers--that we thought our film would be about disaffected youth," recalls Berlinger, on the phone from New York. What emerged from the filmmakers' investigation was an unbelievably strange case of southern justice run amok. Prosecutors argued the three teens must be guilty, in large part due to the heavy metal music that constituted their listening habits. "As it developed, we became unconvinced that they were guilty." Paradise Lost does cover both sides, dishing out tidbits of info as the case progresses. There's a dramatic structure to this documentary and that structure has gotten Sinofsky and Berlinger in trouble with some colleagues. "Pure documentarians hate how we do that," Berlinger states. "They think we should put everything--all of the evidence and details--out there, up front. To me, our way is more emotionally engaging." But perhaps less likely to win an Academy Award. Paradise Lost was passed over, as was Brother's Keeper. "There's an L.A. mafia of documentarians who have a very traditional sense of what a documentary has to be: cinéma vérité, present-tense film with talking heads. So ours isn't journalistic enough, or documentarian enough, or something. If it's--god forbid--entertaining, it'll be slighted. Look at Hoop Dreams. Ah, I don't care anymore." Well, Metallica certainly didn't dis Paradise Lost. They've never given their music rights to a film before this one. And they gave them for free. "They could've easily charged us $100,000 for it, but they didn't," said Berlinger. "Damien [one of the accused] talks a lot about heavy metal--one of their songs in particular--so we laid the track down for a rough cut, then sent a request to Metallica's manager. We explained how heavy metal is the victim in this film, not the culprit. "Within a few hours of sending the fax, their manager called and said that Brother's Keeper is his favourite film and it's the band's favourite film. They didn't even want to see the rushes. They just said, 'Go make a great film and win a lot of awards!'" For Paradise Lost, the filmmakers had to juggle the curiosity of the families about each other. The families knew who was being filmed on what days and asked for information about the other side. "We wouldn't say anything. I mean, we were talking to the judge, the lawyers and all the families. So on the first day of the trial, everyone was equally glad to see us--from all sides! That caused some tension. I could see the lawyers worrying." Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills opens this Monday, June 16 at the Cinéma du Parc. See repertory listings for showtimes |
"Can you imagine? Two nice Jewish boys from New York going to Bible Belt Arkansas?" asks Joe Berlinger, talking about making his documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, with co-director Bruce Sinofsky. Yes, Berlinger and Sinofsky are the guys who did Brother's Keeper, the critically acclaimed 1992 documentary about a bizarre murder trial in upstate New York. And yes, this film's just as good. Using their popular approach to investigative journalism, Berlinger and Sinofsky follow the proceedings as three teens are charged with the brutal killing of three youngsters in West Memphis, Arkansas.