1. CHAPTER FIVE
Cinéma Vérité

2. CINÉMA VÉRITÉ French film movement of the 1960s
— that showed people in everyday situations with authentic
dialogue and naturalness of action.
Literally means “film truth“
— the term, translating Dziga Vertov’s kinopravda
（电影真理报） into French
— the “truth” refers to the truth of the encounter rather than
some absolute truth.
The innovation and evolution of the cinematic hardware
— lightweight cameras and sound recorders

3. Film as catalyst
— The documentarist as an avowed participant who tries
to precipitate a crisis
— bringing hidden truth to the surface.
Participatory documentaries believe that it is impossible
for the act of filmmaking to not influence or alter the
events being filmed. What these films do is emulate the
approach of the anthropologist: participant-observation.
It allows filmmaker to account for past events via
witnesses and experts whom viewer can also see 

4. (Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, 1960)
I, a Negro
(Jean Rouch ,1958 )
Chronicle of a Summer
(Jean Rouch & Edgar Morin, 1960)
Jean Rouch
（ ）

5. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPATORY /INTERACTIVE MODE
The acknowledged presence of the camera and crew
Emphasis on the interaction between filmmaker and subject
Heavily relying on interviews to reveal the subjective truth
An emphasis on monologues and dialogues
Representation of multiple viewpoints
Editing maintains logical continuity
No definitive argument, leaving the audience to decide

6. The comparison Cinéma Vérité (France) camera provokes subject:
reality produced in the making of thefilm
committed to a paradox: that articifical
circumstances could bring hidden truth
to the surface.
The documentarist espouses that of
provocateur.
The documentarist as an avowed
participant
The documentarist tried to precipitate a
crisis
Cinéma vérité can involve stylized set-ups
and the interaction between the filmmaker
and the subject, even to the point of
provocation
Direct Cinema (U.S.)
passive camera: no provocation
reality pre-exists & must be
respected
finding its truth in events available to
the camera.
The documentarist plays the role of
uninvolved bystander
The documentarist aspires to invisibility
The documentarist takes his camera to
a situation of tension and waited
hopefully a crisis
Direct Cinema is largely concerned with
the recording of events in which the
subject and audience become unaware
of the camera's presence. 6

7. The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988)