A semidocumentary is a form of book, film, or television program presenting a fictional story that incorporates many factual details or actual events, or which is presented in a manner similar to a
documentary.
Characteristics
Stylistically, it has certain similarities to
Italian Neorealism
Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pr ...
, such as the use of location shooting and employing non-actors in secondary roles. However, the viewer is not intended to mistake a semidocumentary for a real documentary; the fictional elements are too prominent.
Background
One of the first films of this kind was
Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films.
Backgro ...
's ''
The House on 92nd Street
''The House on 92nd Street'' is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The movie, shot mostly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. ''The House on 92nd Street'' was made with the full c ...
'' (1945).
In the late 1940s, semidocumentary films were often associated with
film noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
thrillers, sharing a commitment to on-location shooting, gritty realism, and understated performances.
Decline
In the 1960s and 1970s, the semidocumentary style declined in feature films. The standard documentary had blurred the difference between itself and fiction so much that there was viewer confusion regarding what they were seeing.
[
]
Notable semidocumentary examples
*''The House on 92nd Street
''The House on 92nd Street'' is a 1945 black-and-white American spy film directed by Henry Hathaway. The movie, shot mostly in New York City, was released shortly after the end of World War II. ''The House on 92nd Street'' was made with the full c ...
'' (1945)[
*'']The Killers
The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drum ...
'' (1946)[
*'']13 Rue Madeleine
''13 Rue Madeleine'' is a 1947 American World War II spy film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte and Frank Latimore. Allied volunteers are trained as spies in the leadup to the invasion of Europe, but ...
'' (1946)[
*'' T-Men'' (1947)
*'']Boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
'' (1947)[
*'']Brute Force
Brute Force or brute force may refer to:
Techniques
* Brute force method or proof by exhaustion, a method of mathematical proof
* Brute-force attack, a cryptanalytic attack
* Brute-force search, a computer problem-solving technique
People
* Brut ...
'' (1947)[
*'']Kiss of Death
Kiss of Death may refer to:
* Kiss of Judas, Judas's betrayal of Jesus with a kiss identifying him to his executioners
* Kiss of death (mafia), a Mafia signal that someone has been marked for execution
Film and television
* ''Kiss of Death'' ...
'' (1947)[
*'']The Naked City
''The Naked City'' (aka ''Naked City'') is a 1948 American film noir directed by Jules Dassin, starring Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart and Don Taylor. The film, shot almost entirely on location in New York City, depicts the polic ...
'' (1948)[
*'']Call Northside 777
''Call Northside 777'' is a 1948 reality-based newspaper drama directed by Henry Hathaway. The film parallels the true story of a Chicago reporter who proved that a man jailed for murder was wrongly convicted 11 years before. James Stewart star ...
'' (1948)
*'' Canon City'' (1948)
*'' He Walked by Night'' (1948)
*'' The Street with No Name'' (1948)
*''Bodyguard
A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers ...
'' (1948)
*''The Asphalt Jungle
''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 American film noir heist film directed by John Huston. Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city. The film stars Sterling Hayden and ...
'' (1950)
*''Armored Car Robbery
''Armored Car Robbery'' is a 1950 American film noir starring Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, and William Talman.
Directed by Richard Fleischer, ''Armored Car Robbery'' is a heist movie, a subgenre of crime-based films. It tells the story of a ...
'' (1950)
*'' Mystery Street'' (1950)
*''Night and the City
''Night and the City'' is a 1950 film noir directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney and Googie Withers. It is based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Kersh. Shot on location in London and at Shepperton Studios ...
'' (1950)
*'' Highway 301'' (1950)
*'' Panic in the Streets'' (1950)
*'' Side Street'' (1950)
*'' The Racket'' (1951)
*'' On Dangerous Ground'' (1952)
*'' Walk East on Beacon'' (1952)
*'' The Hitch-Hiker'' (1953)
*'' Dragnet'' (1954)
*'' The Phenix City Story'' (1955)
*'' Man on a String'' (1960)
*'' The Cool World'' (1963)
*'' The Insect Woman'' (1963)
*'' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964)
*''The Endless Summer
''The Endless Summer'' is a 1966 American surf documentary film directed, produced, edited and narrated by Bruce Brown. The film follows surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August on a surfing trip around the world. Despite the balmy mediterran ...
'' (1966)
*''The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was the murder of seven members and associates of Chicago's North Side Gang that occurred on Saint Valentine's Day 1929. The men were gathered at a Lincoln Park, Chicago garage on the morning of February 14, ...
'' (1967)
*'' Night Flight from Moscow'' (1973)
Notable directors associated with semidocumentary
*Richard Fleischer
Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave.
Though h ...
[
*]Louis de Rochemont
Louis Clark de Rochemont (January 13, 1899 – December 23, 1978) was an American film maker known for creating, along with Roy E. Larsen, the monthly theatrically shown newsreels ''The March of Time''. His brother, Richard, was also a pro ...
[
* Gordon Douglas
*]Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films.
Backgro ...
10 great New York noirs, BFI
/ref>
See also
*Docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event".
Docudramas typ ...
* Film gris
*Cinema verite
''Cinema Verite'' is a 2011 HBO drama film directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The film's main ensemble cast starred Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, James Gandolfini and Patrick Fugit. The film follows a fictionalized account of the ...
References
{{Film genres
Non-fiction genres
Film genres
Documentary film genres
1940s in film
1950s in film
1960s in film
Film noir