Welfare

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03/04/2014 As one of the leading progenitors of Direct Cinema still going in his 80s, Frederick Wiseman should be noted as one of our most important historians. After all, across nearly five decades, he's managed to document our most influential institutions, the ones that control and impact our behaviour, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Here, he points his fly-on-the-wall camera at a busy welfare office in New York City (circa 1974), showing the interactions between clients, welfare workers, social workers, security guards, and other visitors and occupants of the building. Although seemingly objective (there is no voiceover here and no talking heads), Wiseman has carefully extracted a 3 hour movie from 100's of hours of footage and he has certain points to make. Primarily, he portrays the welfare system as a certain kind of hell in which both clients and workers are ensnared in endless red tape and bureaucracy with neither always knowing the proper course of action. The system seems designed to block people from receiving assistance rather than to help them and this is fairly apparent to everyone in the building. Unfortunately, those who seek to do the right thing by the poor (and this is most of those who we meet) are just as hamstrung by the rules as those who simply turn off their empathy. Wiseman shows us a range of problems faced by those seeking and receiving welfare, demonstrating clearly that many are in the least position to be able to navigate the confusing paths they are directed to take. He masterfully controls the pacing and the emotional tenor of the film which rises to a nearly unbearable peak near its end. No doubt this institution has not changed and for that reason this film is a must see for all who care about the human condition. See more 11/26/2011 Through its huge cast of characters and its epic running time we see all the complexities, paradoxes, challenges, humanities and inhumanities of bureaucracy and our clearly flawed support system. A brilliant documentary. See more 06/26/2011 Not as riveting as some of Wiseman's other work, but still very good. See more 07/17/2009 A very interesting documentary about an average day at a welfare office in New York, circa 1973. Some really interesting individuals in this one, both employees and welfare recipients. See more 08/10/2008 The best American film maker alive See more Read all reviews

Welfare

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