![]() ![]() And Felicity Jones-recently nominated for an Oscar for her work in The Theory of Everything-sneaks up on you as Hill's wife. Franco is (I say somewhat begrudgingly) absolutely terrific in it, and Hill is always good. That said, the film itself leaves a lot of things wide open in what I think is a pleasing fashion, and serves up real humans who are using the truth for all kinds of ends. True story: I fight that urge a lot, as do most of the writers I know who both have integrity and would like to pay their bills. (The other two are The End of the Tour and Best of Enemies.) This is something I think about all the time, both because I studied creative nonfiction in graduate school (a fraught term if there ever was one) and because I write for the Internet, and I know, as well as you do, that if I want to get a lot of hits all I have to do is write something slightly hyperbolic. ![]() This wasn't the best movie I've seen at the festival, but it's worth noting that it's the third one that's explicitly about journalistic ethics, and particularly how we manipulate and shape the truth to get people to read our stories. His real name is Christian Longo (James Franco), and Finkel goes to meet him in prison, only to get sucked into a back-and-forth match with Longo over the relationship between truth and storytelling. He returns home in disgrace to Montana, only to discover that someone has been using his identity in Mexico, and that the thief is also a man accused of murdering his wife and three children. True Story is based on the, well, true story of Mike Finkel (Jonah Hill), the New York Times reporter who was fired for fabricating some material. ![]() Jeffs also continues to play the role of martyr, to extend his control over his followers, to the point of having mockups of his jail cell erected at the entrances of the FLDS meeting house so that the faithful would experience the conditions of his imprisonment.Jonah Hill and James Franco in 'True Story' Warren Jeffs: The Godfather ("48 Hours").I kind of think that he has settled into that world." "I think he likes it that way - still being the boss with none of the worries. The putative head of the FLDS community now is Warren's brother, Lyle, but Brower says Lyle is just serving as a mouthpiece for his jailed sibling: "I don't doubt that Lyle takes liberties now and then, but Warren is still running the show," he said. Though Jeffs is serving a life sentence in solitary confinement at a maximum security prison in Texas, with only an hour a day outside his cell for exercise and phone calls and visitors on weekends, "he can send as much mail as he wants," Brower said, "so he is able to get a lot of information out" - including his "revelations" about the future of his church. "When you're kicked out, you're a lost soul." "There's more trauma when you're kicked out, too," said Brower. They had all of their faith stripped away and lost everything so they had a better starting point." She said that several of those who left willingly experienced a lot more guilt, due to their leaving families behind. Even years later, I spoke with people who'd been kicked out or left who are still wearing the clothes and still haven't quite shaken the whole thing yet."īerg noted, "The people that got kicked out of the church seem to have a little bit more motivation to rebuild their lives than the people that left. ![]() do it at a much quicker pace, but mostly it's a long process to slowly integrate themselves with the rest of the world. "Some people leave, some were kicked out. "For each person it's different," Brower said of the path for former sect members. The film also contains harrowing interviews with former sect members who were indoctrinated in the teachings of Jeffs, and then left the fold, their faith and feelings of trust destroyed. There is also a recording of Jeffs' apparent rape of one of his many child brides. But while he is not interviewed directly, the film contains his chilling depositions from behind bars and the successful prosecution against him, as well as audio recordings of his teachings to FLDS members. She wrote letters to Jeffs twice a week for almost two years, with no response. "I think there are a lot of similarities in the male-run institutions which practice power through exploitation and abuse," said director Amy Berg, whose past films include the Oscar-nominated documentary, "Deliver Us From Evil" (about abuse of children within the Catholic Church), and the Hollywood expose, "An Open Secret."īerg collaborated with private investigator Sam Brower (whose seven-year probe into the FLDS formed the basis of his bestselling book, "Prophet's Prey") and journalist Jon Krakauer, for what is a truly harrowing look into the mindset of Jeffs and that of followers who'd either fled his enclave or were cast out. After his conviction was overturned, Jeffs was tried in Texas and convicted of child sexual assault in 2011. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |