CINEMA VERITE (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television drama film depicts the creation of "An American Family," the 1973 television documentary miniseries regarded as the first "reality television" production. Real footage of the Loud family is interspersed through the film.
The story begins in 1971 in Santa Barbara as Patricia "Pat" Loud is introduced to documentary filmmaker Craig Gilbert, who tells her that her family, with her husband and five children, is the ideal subject for his observational series idea, though she objects to the idea of being followed around by cameras. As son Lance moves to New York City, Craig visits the Louds and tells them of his idea. The remaining four children are excited, though husband Bill, recently returned from yet another business trip, questions what will be considered "off-limits" to the cameras. Despite their reservations, the family agrees to do the show, and Craig pitches his "groundbreaking" plans to the network executives in New York; though they, too, are doubtful that the show will be interesting, they allow him to go ahead with it. Pat decides to visit Lance in Manhattan, and husband-and-wife film crew Susan and Alan Raymond follow her there, reminding her to think of them as "invisible." Pat heads to the infamous Chelsea Hotel, where Lance is living. She is shocked when he later takes her to a drag show, hinting that he is involved when one of the "women" onstage. She tells Craig that Bill will be upset by the footage, but Craig assures her that Lance is "finding himself" and will make for good television with his outgoing personality.
Craig and Pat bond as he tells her of his own failed marriage. When Pat calls Bill in California, he asks if Lance has "met the right girl yet." Lance tells his mother of his happiness in New York, explaining that he has long felt disconnected from the family, particularly Bill. Pat eventually heads back home, and further complications arise when they are forced to reshoot a few "spontaneous" family moments as friends, including shop owner Val, attempt to edge their way into the spotlight. Pat is angered when Bill "baits" her on camera by hinting that she is not strict enough as a parent, and the Raymonds stop filming at her request. Craig heatedly tells Susan and Alan that the entire point is to capture "genuine drama," but they argue that doing so conflicts with their "documentary ethics." Lance soon calls and announces that he is headed to Paris to perform "street theater," though Bill strongly objects. Craig's bosses hint that the footage is still not sufficiently dramatic, and he decides to head to the West Coast to stir up the "plot." At the same time, Bill comes home from another business trip and argues with his sons Grant and Kevin about their plans to pursue music rather than more serious careers.
Pat confronts Bill about his ongoing absences, though he assures her that she is still of primary import in his life. When she visits Val's shop, however, she quickly realizes that she and Bill are having an affair, and she makes pointed comments about it on camera. Craig arrives in time for Kevin and Grant's backyard concert and reveals that Lance has gone to Paris with a camera crew after all. Pat demands to see all of the footage, unwilling to let the show depict a family "struggling to make sense of their lives." Later, she admits to Craig that she and Bill have had troubles in the past, and he urges her to become a "role model" for other American women stuck in flawed marriages. Pat informs Bill that she and some of the children are taking a trip to Taos, New Mexico to achieve "clarity." As soon as they leave town, Bill calls Craig and asks him to meet with a "friend" of his, Sally, who has Hollywood aspirations. The family watches footage of Lance's flamboyant Paris life, but Delilah soon grows bored with Taos and heads back to California with a friend. Craig regretfully tells Pat about Sally, and Pat is upset to hear that Delilah is being evacuated from the family home because of out-of-control wildfires and that Bill is nowhere to be found. She hurries home and gratefully reunites with her children, including Lance, recently returned from Paris. She treats Bill coldly when he finally arrives, claiming that he was on "business" in Fresno. Pat tells Craig that Bill requested an "open marriage" long ago, though she was uncomfortable with the idea, and he shows her Sally's headshots. Alan and Susan are disgusted when Bill openly flirts with another woman, Kay, at a Fiesta Day celebration. Pat arrives with Craig and finally confronts her husband on camera, calling him a "pathetic fool." Craig fights with the Raymonds when they again stop filming. Though he claims to genuinely care for them, Susan tells him that he has overstepped reasonable boundaries.
Pat searches Bill's drawers and finds evidence of numerous affairs, and she tearfully tells Craig that she wants to dump Bill on-camera for the sake of "the women of America." She is upset to find the camera crew at her brother's house, however, having stated that she wanted to tell the rest of the family privately. Craig convinces her that the additional scenes are needed for "emotional impact." She confides in her family about her years of unhappiness and her willful denial about Bill's dalliances, and ironically states afterward that it was her "best scene." She then has second thoughts and asks Grant to tell Bill about the split in private, but Grant cannot bring himself to do so and Pat is forced to tell him on camera that they are "done." Stunned, Bill says goodbye to his children and heads to a hotel. Craig regards the grim footage with mixed emotions. Some time later, Lance attends a screening of the premiere episode and is shocked to see its unflattering presentation of Pat's unhappiness and of his own "leech-like homosexuality," among other things. The show debuts in January 1973 and is widely regarded as an embarrassing and tragic portrayal of a broken family; Lance declares that they are "despised" by America. The Raymonds publicly state that Craig had a sensationalist "agenda" of his own, and the Louds defend themselves by appearing on various talk shows and explaining that they are not "monsters or idiots" but normal, flawed individuals. The film concludes by providing brief summaries of the characters' later lives, noting that Craig produced nothing else, though the Raymonds went on to win an Oscar in 1994 for "I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School." Lance invited the Raymonds to film his final days as he died of AIDS in 2001, and Bill and Pat eventually reunited per their son's deathbed request.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: April 23, 2011 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:30:08
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 109996
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection; Drama; Reality programs; Families
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV, 2011
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Gavin Polone … Executive Producer
- Zanne Devine … Executive Producer
- Karyn McCarthy … Producer
- Luca Borghese … Associate Producer
- Denise Woodgerd … Dailies Producer
- Bob Peishel … Digital Intermediate Producer
- Andrea D'Amico … Visual Effects Producer
- Robert Pulcini … Director
- Shari Springer Berman … Director
- David Seltzer … Writer
- Rolfe Kent … Music by
- Diane Lane … Cast, Pat Loud
- Tim Robbins … Cast, Bill Loud
- James Gandolfini … Cast, Craig Gilbert
- Patrick Fugit … Cast, Alan Raymond
- Kathleen Quinlan … Cast, Mary
- Lolita Davidovich … Cast, Val
- Shanna Collins … Cast, Susan Raymond
- Thomas Dekker … Cast, Lance Loud
- Caitlin Custer … Cast, Delilah Loud
- Kaitlyn Dever … Cast, Michele Loud
- Nick Eversman … Cast, Grant Loud
- Johnny Simmons … Cast, Kevin Loud
- Jake Richardson … Cast, Tommy Goodwin
- Matt O'Leary … Cast, Cameron
- Stephen Caffrey … Cast, Tom
- Monika Jolly … Cast, Yvonne
- William Belli … Cast, Candy Darling
- Kyle Riabko … Cast, Jackie Curtis
- Dendrie Taylor … Cast, Sally
- Sean O'Bryan … Cast, Johnny Hall
- Molly Hagan … Cast, Kay
- Karynn Moore … Cast, Crow
- Richard Fancy … Cast, Network President
- Cory Blevins … Cast, Production Executive
- Don McManus … Cast, Talk Show Moderator
- Colin Campbell … Cast, Political Analyst
- Robert Curtis Brown … Cast, Anthropologist Commentator
- Dawn Hudson … Cast, Morning Show Commentator
- Mike Rad … Cast, Chelsea Desk Clerk
- Patrick O'Connor … Cast, MoMA Curator
- Michelle Morgan … Cast, Val's Salesgirl
- Betsy Foldes Meiman … Cast, Friend
- Aliya Carter … Cast, PBS Assistant
- Emilio Rivera … Cast, Nightwatchman
- Cynthia de Leon … Cast, Mariachi Band
- Esperanza Juarez … Cast, Mariachi Band
- Omar Mata … Cast, Mariachi Band
- Richard Mata … Cast, Mariachi Band
- Raymundo Monge … Cast, Mariachi Band