Frederick Wiseman is considered the classic objective/fly-on-the-wall documentarian. He goes into the environment and he shoots thousands of hours of footage. Then he goes into the editing suite and spends a year cutting it. There are no interviews, on-screen titles or narration. You just watch it unspool and make of it what you will.
He has made a series of films about institutions, such as High School (1968) and Hospital (1970) , and his latest film is along the same lines: State Legislature. In it, he observes the 2004 session of the Idaho state legislature. Their annual three-month session begins in January.
Some of it is very interesting. For example, law enforcement officials tell the legislators that they need to grapple with the issue of video voyeurism. For example, men have been caught sticking cell phones with cameras up women’s skirts or hiding cameras in gym bags and then placing them in women’s locker rooms. Other than trespass, there is nothing such people can be charged with. In one scene, members of congress, prosecutors, police officials, and others discuss how to prevent minors from having to be placed on registered sex offenders list along with the serious repeat offenders. Do you separate it by age? By first offense? Should the first offense be a misdemeanor for everyone?
We also see the members address the issue of illegal immigration, such as whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to have driver’s licenses. In another scene, a congressman and a Latino activist argue. The activist says that since the problem exists, and since they are so many illegal immigrants in the community, that they should deal with the issue. The congressman refuses to entertain giving such immigrants licenses, since they broke the law. The activist says they need to address the problem; it appears that there are a lot of undocumented workers serving business and the problem’s not going away. The congressman says the problem needs to be solved at the federal level. Back and forth they go, getting nowhere.
I’ll confess, at almost three-and-a-half hours, it was a long slog. The film also aired that night on PBS and I recorded it and had to watch the last hour again to absorb it. Fascinating, but not recommended for the faint of heart.
Tags: Silverdocs, Frederick Wiseman, State Legislature