Friedman - Who Do You Believe?

As far as documentaries go Hoop Dreams was by far the creme-de-la-creme; that was until Andrew Jareki thought he would make a film about party clowns in New York City. He never got to make that movie but what he stumbled on was, perhaps, the most unlikely of stories; and that story is riveting from open to close.
Jareki wanted to do a short film on what drives party clowns, what makes them tick you know. He set up interviews with dozens of New York's top clowns and came across the troubled David Friedman, who just happened to be New York's top party clown.
During these interviews David refused to talk about his childhood and left a lot of information about his family out. Well the truth finally fell out one day; his father and brother were convicted of child abuse, sex with minor children, sodomy, and multiple other charges.
And as one could imagine this ruined the Friedman household, as it would any one of us. What is so enthralling about the situation is that both Arnold Friedman (father) and Jesse Friedman (brother) claim nothing ever happened.
From that point on Jareki dropped the clown short film to focus on making a full feature documentary about what happened to the Friedmans; Capturing the Friedmans. After realizing that Jareki was going to make this film no matter what, David reluctantly gave Jareki around 100 hours of film he recorded during the arrest and trail of his father and brother inside the Friedman household.
The film from within the walls of the Friedman house is unequivablly the most raw and shaking material I have ever seen.
Ultimately Jareki presents both sides of the case and lets the viewer decide what really happened at 17 Piccadilly Ln, Great Neck, New York.
The special edition DVD has further evidence that promotes one side of the case due to the overwhelming evidence, or lack of evidence.
Sure this is a very troubling film to watch; it covers one of the most heinous crimes on earth in mass amounts. But what is intriguing and unforgettable about this film is the reality of it all- this really happened and it sucks, and we have a front row seat to this catastrophe.
Read up on the Friedmans and if the subject matter doesn't scare you away I recommend this film as highly as any other film I recommend. Absolutely riveting in every way.