Movie Details
| Title: | Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory | |
| Director: | Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky | |
| Year: | 2011 | |
| Genre: | Documentary | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 03.18.15 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (3)
- Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
- Paradise Lost 2: Revelations
- Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 03.18.15 | Internet | This is an emotional and satisfying conclusion to the story of three innocent kids convicted of murder. This is also a frustrating look at the state of small-town justice and a woefully incomplete story of the deaths of three eight year old boys. I guess whoever actually killed them just gets away with it. Thanks, Obama. But really there's a lot to like. Berlinger and Sinofsky's style has really changed in the decade between this and the last one. I feel like the second one was half black and white recap from the first one where this integrates footage from 93, 99, and 2010 smoothly and succinctly. I also think we see a fair bit of 93 footage which wasn't used in the first movie. Some notable tonal shifts have happened. The Byers guy stands out the most. His bizarre behavior during the second film is entirely forgotten once he changes his mind and thinks that the kids are innocent. A new suspect emerges for a few minutes. Familiar faces come back older and balder, probably because 18 years gives a lot of distance that 7 years doesn't. This is also a time capsule film for everyone involved. It's interesting that Byers is the only person who really does re-evaluate his stance and change his mind. Everyone else, call it stubbornness or faith, holds on to what they thought in 93. So... I'm really glad I went back and gave this series another shot. I'm not quite sure what happened when I watched the first one for the first time. Part of me thinks that maybe the disc version has all of the explicit crime scene footage cut out of it because that stuff was new and shocking to me. You could also imagine how having that stuff omitted might effect the power of the movie, but who knows... for whatever reason I didn't like it the first time and I did the second, and now I'm a fan of all three of these. Really great documentary work. |
