Richard DeCordova's report of difficulties on the set between "cast" and
"crew" sharpens the issue around staged documentaries.  There is nothing
wrong in concept with REAL WORLD.  Louis Marcorelles suggested something of
the sort in LIVING CINEMA (1970).  Matters get sticky when the "producers"
try to impose >t h e i r< view of what should be happening.  The result is
a dramatic series on the cheap with ad lib dialog sans any dramatic structure
or significance.  These hybrids certainly only >u s e< actuality for their
own purposes rather than let actuality be represented, as well as possible
without intervention.
 
The foregoing is a headline version, dashed off at the terminal.  The
underlying issue is how much should/do imagemakers respect actuality and
how much they impose their notion of what >s h o u l d< have happened.
 
In my ethic/aesthetic I would have let the affair between cameraman and
actress run its course and use it as part of the story: What the hell it
was part of the story.
 
Cal Pryluck                               <[log in to unmask]>
Dept of Radio-Television-Film             <PRYLUCK@TEMPLEVM>
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122                    voice (215) 247-9663