Frederick Wiseman Summary

Frederick Wiseman (born 1930) was an American documentary filmmaker whose "fly-on-the-wall" films revealed what happens in a hospital, school, meat-packing plant, police department, modeling agency, d... Read more

Critical Essay by Donald E. Mcwilliams [To say] that a Wiseman film is about the institution or is primarily about the institution is to be superficial and ignore the complexity of his films. There a... Read more

Critical Essay by Patrick Sullivan [Essene] pays its attention to an Anglican religious community which on the surface has little or no connection to the urgent social and economic problems of [Wisem... Read more

Critical Essay by Jane Larkin Crain [The] first thing to be remarked of [Wiseman's] movies is that they possess, for the most part, a style and verve that put Dragnet and Emergency! to shame. ... Read more

Critical Essay by Chuck Kraemer The style [of "Primate"] is typical of a Wiseman film: leisurely, flat, unnarrated, often repetitive, utterly free of polemic. But the subject matter is ... Read more

Critical Essay by Karl E. Meyer At its best, [Welfare] is very good indeed, if one can use the word good about a film whose subject is appalling and depressing. Shot in black and white at a New York ... Read more

Critical Essay by Stephen Mamber Frederick Wiseman's extraordinary new film Meat is and is not about slaughterhouses. From the first shots of cows on an open range there is no doubt blood will... Read more

Critical Essay by Louise Sweet [Canal Zone is] a deliberate summation of Wiseman's previous work…. Its slow pace encourages the audience to consider Wiseman's long-standing preoc... Read more