Frederick Wiseman's Cinema

Frederick Wiseman's Cinema: The Art of Uncontrolled Reality is a chronological film-by-film study, covering all forty-five works directed by Wiseman over a career of nearly sixty years. Film scholar Stephen Mamber offers ways to approach Wiseman's films, paying special attention to their unconventional style, which can be challenging for viewers to interpret. Sometimes having run times stretching over several hours, with no voiceover narration, onscreen text, or other conventional framing elements of documentary filmmaking, Wiseman's films do not present stories in a linear manner and rarely feature people who appear in more than a couple of scenes. Without a clear narrative, the films contain few obvious guides to determine how to respond to the material, and viewers can feel adrift in scenes foregrounding quotidian details of daily life and work. Wiseman's films also cover a daunting range of subjects, from institutions such as schools and hospitals or the military, to cultural venues such as theater and ballet companies, museums, and libraries. Some of his films focus on specific communities, as well as a Parisian nightclub, a fine-dining restaurant, and a boxing gym. In Frederick Wiseman's Cinema, Mamber provides both an introduction to Wiseman's films for the uninitiated and a consideration of the director's full body of work, often celebrated for its significance as a vast, evolving portrait of social institutions. Each chapter functions as a standalone essay on a specific film, merging a close reading with larger ideas about how viewers might navigate the rigors of Wiseman's style and recurrent thematic interests. Balancing thoughtful analysis with appreciation and reflection, Mamber's book offers a detailed survey of one of the most revered filmographies in American cinema.