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Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film
Now brought completely up to date, the new edition of this classic work on documentary films and filmmaking surveys the history of the genre from 1895 to the present day. With the myriad social upheavals over the past decade, documentaries have enjoyed an international renaissance; here Barnouw considers the medium in the light of an entirely new political and social climate. He examines as well the latest filmmaking technology, and the effects that video cassettes and cable television are having on the production of documentaries. And like the previous editions, Documentary is filled with photographs, many of them rare, collected during the author's travels around the world. Covering the full course of the documentary from Louis Lumiere's first effort to recent landmark productions such as Shoah, this book makes the growing importance of a unique blend of art and reality accessible and understandable to all film lovers.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 16, 2020
Early in movie history…. very early…in 1902! they were filming the first of what became known as newsreel. But sometimes the results weren’t impressive enough when they got the film developed. So they just faked them in the studio.
A table-top “battle of Santiago Bay” complete with profuse cigarette and cigar smoke, explosions and cardboard ships going down in inch-deep water.
This became the movie hit of the Spanish-American War. They were sly. They called some items "authentic reconstitutions”.
Memorable genuine footage came back from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but other footage of the event, contrived in table-top miniature, was equally applauded. Several volcanic eruptions were triumphantly faked, as in Biograph’s 1905 Eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Film companies did not want to ignore catastrophes or other headline events merely because their cameraman could not get there… In this spirit the British producer James Williamson shot his 1898 Attack on a Chinese Mission Station in his back yard, and some of his Boer War scenes on a golf course.
Fake news, 1902 style.
A table-top “battle of Santiago Bay” complete with profuse cigarette and cigar smoke, explosions and cardboard ships going down in inch-deep water.
This became the movie hit of the Spanish-American War. They were sly. They called some items "authentic reconstitutions”.
Memorable genuine footage came back from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but other footage of the event, contrived in table-top miniature, was equally applauded. Several volcanic eruptions were triumphantly faked, as in Biograph’s 1905 Eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Film companies did not want to ignore catastrophes or other headline events merely because their cameraman could not get there… In this spirit the British producer James Williamson shot his 1898 Attack on a Chinese Mission Station in his back yard, and some of his Boer War scenes on a golf course.
Fake news, 1902 style.
August 3, 2012
A few weeks ago a friend ecstatically informed me that Lars Ulrich played Joris Ivens in the HBO film HEMINGWAY AND GELLHORN. An instant look of befuddlement exposed my ignorance of who this Ivens figure was. "You know, Joris Ivens. The Dutch documentary filmmaker. He's one of the most influential figures in film history." I had a sudden urge to shift my ignorance by saying, "Of course, but who is this Lars Ulrich you speak of?" Instead I tucked my cineaste tail between my leg and accepted the deserved derisive glare. As he walked away, I immediately decided to bump Erik Barnouw's DOCUMENTARY to the top of my reading list.
The few chapters I read for a film history class didn't prepare me for the exquisite depth of this essential work. Barnouw drifts between film analysis, biographies, evolution of technology, shifting movements and trends, while simultaneously offering a world history of political and economic trends of the 20th century Zinn would approve of. His insights on individual films are consistently poetic and enthusiastic. He never wastes time on unworthy films, they are simply left out of the book. The vast amount of research involved is hard to comprehend, Barnow and his wife traveled the globe exploring archives, interviewing filmmakers and participants, scanning scripts and viewing hundreds of documentaries; yet the dramatic narrative feels effortless.
The only disappointment is that Barnouw was, tragically, mortal and passed before the Youtube era and the most recent boom in doc popularity, as his insights would continue be revelatory and fascinating.
The few chapters I read for a film history class didn't prepare me for the exquisite depth of this essential work. Barnouw drifts between film analysis, biographies, evolution of technology, shifting movements and trends, while simultaneously offering a world history of political and economic trends of the 20th century Zinn would approve of. His insights on individual films are consistently poetic and enthusiastic. He never wastes time on unworthy films, they are simply left out of the book. The vast amount of research involved is hard to comprehend, Barnow and his wife traveled the globe exploring archives, interviewing filmmakers and participants, scanning scripts and viewing hundreds of documentaries; yet the dramatic narrative feels effortless.
The only disappointment is that Barnouw was, tragically, mortal and passed before the Youtube era and the most recent boom in doc popularity, as his insights would continue be revelatory and fascinating.
June 7, 2024
Hónapokon keresztül olvastam ezt a könyvet, mire aprólékosan kijegyzeteltem belőle minden információt, ami hasznos lehet a saját kutatásomhoz. Nem kis fába vágtam a fejszémet, amikor elhatároztam, hogy a Letterboxdon az összes említett filmet listázom, de megérte a fáradságos munkát.
A könyv alapvetően formálta a szemléletemet a dokumentumfilm történetéről. Letisztított, árnyalt, gazdagított és inspirált nemegy gondolatot bennem. Ebből adódóan lehetetlen volna nem 5 csillagot adnom neki, mégis megjegyzem egy-két hiányosságát: Ahogy mások is jelezték, a filmből teljesen hiányzik a kritikai reflexió, pontosabban a dokumentumfilmek etikai dilemmáinak körbejárása, amely a direct cinema / cinema verité / etnográf filmkészítést érintő részeknél különösen fontos adalék lett volna. Az utolsó fejezet "Movement" kevésbé erős, mint az előzőek, itt a szerző érezhetően márcsak összefoglalja az addigi tudását, gyakran önismétlő, nem hozva érdemi újítást. Ez azért kár, mert éppen a nyolcvanas évek volt, amikor a dokumentumfilm markánsan új irányt vett, a klasszikus griersoni hozzáállást felváltotta a személyes és dramaturgiailag feltúrbozott posztgriersoni / posztmodern / posztklasszikus történetmesélés. Barnouw valószínűleg nem kellően ismerte fel ezt a változást, pedig két helyen is adott volt a lehetőség: Egyrészt, az "internationalization of the documentary movement" (343.) jelenség már ezt tükrözi, másrészt pedig Michael Moore első filmjének, a Roger & Me-nek a sikere is ugyanennek a jelenségnek az előszobája.
Persze nem várható, hogy egy ekkora volumenű és átfogó könyv éppen az íráskor körvonalazódó legfrissebb tendenciákat is felsimerje, ehhez már Brian Winstont, Stella Bruzzit, Chris Caglet és Linda Williamst kell olvasni.
A könyv alapvetően formálta a szemléletemet a dokumentumfilm történetéről. Letisztított, árnyalt, gazdagított és inspirált nemegy gondolatot bennem. Ebből adódóan lehetetlen volna nem 5 csillagot adnom neki, mégis megjegyzem egy-két hiányosságát: Ahogy mások is jelezték, a filmből teljesen hiányzik a kritikai reflexió, pontosabban a dokumentumfilmek etikai dilemmáinak körbejárása, amely a direct cinema / cinema verité / etnográf filmkészítést érintő részeknél különösen fontos adalék lett volna. Az utolsó fejezet "Movement" kevésbé erős, mint az előzőek, itt a szerző érezhetően márcsak összefoglalja az addigi tudását, gyakran önismétlő, nem hozva érdemi újítást. Ez azért kár, mert éppen a nyolcvanas évek volt, amikor a dokumentumfilm markánsan új irányt vett, a klasszikus griersoni hozzáállást felváltotta a személyes és dramaturgiailag feltúrbozott posztgriersoni / posztmodern / posztklasszikus történetmesélés. Barnouw valószínűleg nem kellően ismerte fel ezt a változást, pedig két helyen is adott volt a lehetőség: Egyrészt, az "internationalization of the documentary movement" (343.) jelenség már ezt tükrözi, másrészt pedig Michael Moore első filmjének, a Roger & Me-nek a sikere is ugyanennek a jelenségnek az előszobája.
Persze nem várható, hogy egy ekkora volumenű és átfogó könyv éppen az íráskor körvonalazódó legfrissebb tendenciákat is felsimerje, ehhez már Brian Winstont, Stella Bruzzit, Chris Caglet és Linda Williamst kell olvasni.
December 25, 2018
This gets into slightly more detail than I wanted, but as I've said many times, that's not the fault of the book. Barnouw starts out with the early days of cinema when simply capturing life (commuters, farm-workers, horse races) on film held people mesmerized. Fictional films soon won out, but in the early 20th century we get documentaries such as Nanook of the North that became popular hits. By the 1930s things get more political as communists, fascists and corporations all use film to promote their viewpoint. Later developments include historical documentaries formed from old film clips and the "talking heads" film with interviews (once upon a time that was a new idea). Barnouw does a good job showing trends not only in the US and Western Europe but China and behind the Iron Curtain (back when that was a thing). Specialized, but worth it if you're interested.
May 26, 2017
Superb. Crystal-clear prose that weaves the development of nonfiction film alongside human history since the late 19th century. Burnouw has an ability to clarify trends and patterns that is bracingly edifying. Highly recommended for anyone who has ever thought about the ability of film (or video) to capture and present reality.
March 15, 2023
Pretty interesting read about the different documentary movements and genres, along with the history of documentary and it's play into/how it was effected by world history events. Some of the language is definitely, questionable, so it's easy to tell this was written before the 21st century at times with how people and events were described. But overall pretty solid book on documentary.
March 31, 2024
One of the better textbooks I've been assigned to read, though far from the best. Barnouw hits his stride with WWII and the cold war. Up until then his connections between pioneering filmmakers feels a touch fragmented. Still worth a read though!
November 11, 2020
raises a few good questions. lists some interesting films. a bit of history that starts to get bogged down... certainly won't re-read it. will keep it as a reference book.
May 6, 2023
A very complete, incredibly well-written and contextualised history of the non-fiction film.
January 15, 2014
This is a fine survey of the history of documentary. Due to the nature of the text, it is not able to go into much depth, but it will provide you with an overview of all the relevant documentary movements and personalities up until the mid-1980s. While I understand this wasn't the purpose of the book, I do wish Barnouw would have gone beyond focusing mostly on Great Individuals or generic looks at movements and explored industrial, economic, political, etc. impacts on the directions that documentary as a form took (especially pre-sound documentary). There is also a heavy Western focus with non-Western sources mentioned occasionally. That said, a nice introduction to documentary for those unfamiliar.
August 7, 2007
the ultimate documentary film reference guide. a must-read in Deirdre Boyle's documentary history course - completed with viewing the documentaries mentioned in it. But then again you need Deirdre to tell you the complete stories, Nanook and all.
December 22, 2007
This is a pretty nice survey of documentary film history. Many people and movements are sort of sparingly touched on and I've got it from a reliable source that some of his information about East European documentary isn't quite right, but nevertheless, survey works cannot do everything and this one does a good job of giving you a feel for the history of something that is quite broad and diverse.
January 1, 2008
Barnouw's book is a very worthy addition to critical film history, and will at the very least give even the most informed reader a quality viewing list. Anyone interested in documentary cinema, its forms, its subgenres, its bastard children, and even the question of what documentary cinema is will find this to be a valuable work.
January 24, 2024
Good read on documentary filmmaking. Barnouw tends to lean toward any type of documentation being a form of documentary, which doesn't take into account the creative voice of the filmmaker, but a good introduction to documentary. Especially if read side by side with Nichols' Introduction to Documentary.
January 7, 2008
This is a good, readable, and well-organized introduction to documentary film. You start to see how the idea of non-fiction film can help you to look at all film in a different way. Documentaries help you to ask, what is being offered here as truth?
October 9, 2012
History of documentary films. Great for those starting out that want some basis for how the field has developed. I recommend pausing to look up clips of all the films he discusses, it really helps you visualize what he's trying to convey.
October 14, 2008
A good overview for one who wants to learn about the history of documentary.
November 22, 2008
A great survey of the history of the documentary. Written in an interesting format that divides documentary movements into categories such as "explorer", "advocate", and "guerilla."
March 9, 2009
Epic Manifesto; must read for all documentary filmmakers and or people who like manifestos. Let boil, ferment, then write own manifesto.
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December 19, 2010Good stuff - fascinating history especially for documentary film lovers like me
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007...
http://sbutki.newsvine.com/_news/2007...
June 8, 2011
brisk trot through the history. highly readable with apparently sound judgement, such that one would welcome yet more detail.
November 14, 2013
A must have for any documentarian.
March 7, 2014
A very accessible, readable history of documentaries.
April 21, 2014
The best gate to non-fiction world and the world through the eyes of a documentarist.. both great for students and for interested people..
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews