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New Documentary isn't a book about television documentary as such, but it is included in this section because it provides one of the few 'worked through' accounts of docusoaps and current attitudes towards non-fiction programmes in contemporary television. Like John Ellis (in Seeing Things, 2000), Stella Bruzzi has produced a clear argument about contemporary practice, presented in a carefully organised way. In Bruzzi's case this involves a polemic against some of the traditional ways of discussing documentary and a strong argument in favour of studying films that are 'familiar and relevant' rather than older classics. This is particularly important because, she argues, theoretical writing has not kept pace with developments in critical and cultural theory. The Introduction sets out to outline "the shortcomings and pre-occupations of documentary's theorisation". The chief culprit here is Bill Nichols with his 'family tree' approach that sees new modes of documentary growing out of existing practice in a kind of Darwinian evolution. Nichols' categorisation of the Expository, Observational, Interactive, Reflexive and Performative modes suggests a false chronology of linear development. (Bruzzi quotes Nichols' 1994 work, Blurred Boundaries on the latest version of this approach.) The traditional approach never overcomes the contradiction between the hopeless search for objectivity and grappling with film as a realist form of representation. Coupled to this, Bruzzi quotes the documentary maker Errol Morris as saying that Direct Cinema (the American alternative take on cinéma vérité) "set back documentary filmmaking twenty or thirty years". Morris clearly believes that instead of getting 'closer to reality' as an aim, documentaries should carry the stamp of the filmmaker with a particular point of view °© this is no more or no less a stamp of 'truth'. So, Bruzzi wants to see an acceptance of the breaking down of boundaries between 'categories' of documentary and a recognition that technology will let a filmmaker do almost anything these days, so the questions about technological limitations on documentary representation are no longer central. The main part of the book is organised in three sections, each with two chapters. The first pair explores the problems of the traditional approach by questioning two aspects of documentary practice, the status of documentary film as record or archive and the use of 'voice-over' narration. Part two looks at two kinds of contemporary documentaries associated with the legacy of Direct Cinema, British 'docusoaps' and 'journey films'. Finally part three considers the role of 'performance' in documentaries, first with subject-performers like American presidents from Kennedy through to Clinton and secondly with performer-directors like Nick Broomfield and Molly Dineen. I'm impressed by this book (as I was by Stella Bruzzi's previous publication Undressing Cinema, about costume.) There is a careful, structured argument here that deserves to be followed. I confess that I have a problem in following it, primarily because I simply haven't seen most of the examples that Bruzzi cites. The films are often difficult to find at cinemas and marginalised on television schedules. But the truth is that often I've chosen to watch something else. As for docusoaps, I simply can't watch them. But millions of viewers do and the way Bruzzi writes about them, I suspect that along with the exploration of the problems of the traditional approach, this will be the most useful part of the book for teachers. The discussion of docusoaps includes comments by a number of practitioners, one of whom, Chris Terrill creator of HMS Brilliant and The Cruise, gets a whole section. These insights provide material for the institutional issues surrounding television documentary, including the costs and benefits of different types of recording and editing technology. This is very useful and it is the part of the book where I would like to see rather more discussion. Bruzzi's assertions and conclusions here don't always match with what I've heard and read about the use of digital video and nonlinear editing in terms of costs and changing production practices. This may be more to do with presentation of the argument rather than conflicting views and she does explore the importance of the changing relationship between filmmaker and subject, when the new digital cameras allow a single director/camera person to 'get in close'. This book is going to be essential reading for any media teacher with a serious interest in documentary and is highly recommended for centres selecting 'Documentary' as one of the two 'Textual Topics' on AQA's AS Media spec. Roy Stafford
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