About
Cinema Verite tells the dramatic story of the original documentary that chronicled the lives of a Santa Barbara family during the early 1970s. Entitled “An American Family,” this twelve-part PBS series catapulted the Loud family to notoriety while also creating a groundbreaking new television genre: reality TV.
A complete departure from the programming of its time, the PBS production – headed by filmmaker Craig Gilbert (James Gandolfini, HBO’s “The Sopranos”) – exposed the Louds to the limelight of publicity. Throughout filming, parents Pat (Diane Lane) and Bill (Tim Robbins) battled a troubled marriage while also raising their five teenage children. Pat is especially criticized for openly supporting her gay son, Lance (Thomas Dekker), during a time when homosexuality was a social stigma rarely shown on television.
Cinema Verite takes audiences through the seven-month period in 1971 during which “An American Family” was filmed, unveiling how both the Louds and the documentary’s own production crew were often at odds with Gilbert on what was appropriate to record. While Gilbert’s main purpose was to create cultural impact, he also felt that the Loud’s raw struggles were more relatable to Americans than the idealized domestic spheres depicted in The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family.
Debuting in 1973, “An American Family” became a national sensation at the cost of becoming a national punch line. Directed by Oscar®-nominees Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, Cinema Verite is a retelling of the media exploitation suffered by a family not prepared for the consequences of a camera’s ever-present gaze. Ultimately, however, the Louds get revenge in ironic fashion.