Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d'un ete) (1960)

In this experimental documentary, Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin pioneer cinema verite style film, taking a snapshot of Parisian life in the age of consumerism.  Known for creating an ethnography of African culture, the camera is turned inward on postwar France. They pose a simple question: "Are you happy?"  The directors appear in the film as interviewers.  It opens with them questioning whether people will be able to open up and be authentic on camera. As a result, the camera tends to act as a catalyst, despite its spying nature.  The camera stays out of the scene, but at the same time it intrudes on these very private conversations.  The cameraman is able to navigate thanks to a new small, quiet, portable, lightweight camera.

This film is one of the first to talk openly about the Holocaust.  Made just 15 years after the end of WWII, Marceline talks sincerely about her experience in the concentration camp.  We first learn of her suffering through a peek at her tattoo, containing a number and a triangle (half of a Star of David).  The war in Algeria is another point of concern.  Students openly criticize the war and are censored in return.  But some of their opinions get through, and this is the first such case of open criticism.

The film ends with a screening of the film by its subjects. They immediately turn on each other, criticizing each other for being too truthful or not being truthful enough.  The directors reflect on their reactions, questioning their judgment of sincerity and phoniness.  Worried about how an audience might perceive their subjects, they directly ask the audience to believe that they are not acting are completely authentic.  Perhaps it is the nature of documentary film that we have no choice but to believe them.