Documentary Research | Louis Theroux Review & Contextualisation

Louis Theroux Review & Contextualisation

I've always been fascinated by documentaries as a form of visual media, I often find them insightful and when done right, gripping as all hell. Louis Theroux as a documentary filmmaker for the BBC, represents to me one of the things I enjoy most about the genre.

As one of the most influential and well known British filmmakers in the industry; Theroux continues to enjoy a fruitful career of documentary making. At his current age of 46, Theroux has produced over a hundred documentaries on behalf of the BBC, picking up two separate BAFTA awards in the process.

One of the many things that entrances audiences when watching his documentaries is his nature to refuse from shying away from controversy, with an almost 'Paxman-esque' tendency to ask the pressing questions when one would least expect it. He has opened the world's eyes to many different organisations, groups, cults and cultures that viewers often wouldn't get the chance to experience outside of being involved themselves. He's lived with neo-nazis, stayed with the westboro baptist church and even spent 2 weeks inside a maximum security prison dedicated to the housing and treatment of pedophiles. All of these things have contributed to his reputation within the industry and I've always admired his eagerness to get in front of the camera and ask the interesting questions.

When Louis met Jimmy

Back at the turn of the millenia, Theroux produced a documentary for the BBC where he spent a number of days hanging around popular British television presenter of the late 20th Century, Jimmy Savile. The documentary was produced to show the general public the man behind the sensation of 'Jim'll Fix It' and other successes. The man was painted in a positive light throughout and Louis was publically considered to be a close friend of Savile - this is of course until several years after Jimmy's death, it came out that he had been responsible for over 400 accounts of sexual assault on girls ranging from their teens up into their 40's.

Naturally this painted an extremely negative light on Louis' original documentary, and for that reason Theroux decided to produce a follow up documentary that aired on October 2nd 2016, titled simply 'Savile'. This documentary aimed to examine the methods the entertainer utilised to continue his abuse for so long, and to meet people he knew closely, examining his own reflections on his inability to dig more deeply when producing the first documentary in 2002. For me personally, despite all of the interesting locations and situations Louis has put himself in over the years, this documentary is my favourite. It's extremely chilling to watch as he melds footage of the original documentary, and we as an audience are forced to watch this man manipulate Theroux into believing the lies, as Louis too realises the extent to which he was coerced into this false perception. I feel it's a testament to how honest and genuine of a man Louis is, to take the opportunity to stand up publicly and admit that he was fooled just like everyone else.

What Do I Want to Include in our Documentary? 

I personally really appreciate it when the filmmaker gets involved in a story themselves, while I do believe the documentary genre can be done extremely well without the use of a main protagonist, having that person there throughout anchors the story and gives the audience an easy eye into the world they discover during the production of the documentary. As a group we have decided to opt for a presenter, and thankfully have managed to find someone who we believe to fit the bill.

Andrew will be joining us on shoot days and hopefully will be able to really get stuck into the topics we decide to cover, and in a similar way to Louis, make this journey with an audience, coming out the other side knowing something more.