Domestic Violence

It all supposedly began with Cain, who after beating his brother to death, tried to hide his crime with the oft-quoted, responsibility-shirking retort to God, “Am I my brother's keeper?" Domestic Violence, which has been with us as long as there has been an “us,” is the title and subject of cinema vérité documentary filmmaking legend Frederick Wiseman's latest, which brings Cain's sarcastic question forcefully into the modern day. Where does our responsibility to stop domestic violence begin and end? Opening with a montage of images from corporate and daily life, including an interesting juxtaposition of images of a grocery store, liquor store, truck dealership, pawn shop, and a church, the camera finally travels down the street of an older neighborhood into a situation of domestic violence, followed by another…and another…until we see a woman being carried out of her front door who has been beaten so severely that her teeth have punctured the skin on the side of her broken jaw. Later we meet this same woman at a community shelter where she meekly confesses that she told the doctor in ER that she fell on the rocks in front of her house. Introducing us to victims of abuse (including their children), and the workers who help get these people back on their feet--physically, emotionally, and financially--Wiseman's “fly on the wall” approach allows viewers to listen in as victims, counselors and support groups work together to combat this pernicious social disease. By personalizing the victims and immersing the audience in real situations rather than gathering opinions from experts on a sterile studio set, Domestic Violence ultimately forces viewers to confront the fact that abuse is everyone's problem…and that we relinquish the responsibility of being our brother's and sister's keeper at our collective peril. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (L. Stevens)