The Thin Blue Line

Interviews are conducted with a man serving life for the killing of a police officer in Texas, with the youth who was with him that night, and with the witnesses in the case. The accounts do not agree. The film restages the incident repeatedly, each time according to a different statement; which version holds becomes clear through the repetition. A documentary using reconstruction caused argument at the time and changed how the form was understood. Errol Morris directed, with a score by Philip Glass. After its release the case was reopened and the convicted man was freed. Who it's for: those who like true crime documentary and formal experiment. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a neutral account; the film is openly built towards a conclusion.