Narrative technique · used in 2 films
Presenting an invented story with the tools of a documentary, such as talking-head interviews, narration and archive footage. The factual look makes the fiction feel like history and sets up the jokes.
Examples
Woody Allen · 1983
Zelig is built like a TV history special. It mixes newsreel-style footage, a narrator and present-day interviews with real cultural figures such as Susan Sontag and Saul Bellow. Everyone talks about Zelig as if he really lived. The serious tone makes the idea of a human chameleon funnier.
Where to see it: The talking-head interviews. Sontag and Bellow look back on Zelig's fame and offer their opinions of what it meant.
Woody Allen · 1999
Real critics and biographers, including Woody Allen, Nat Hentoff and Daniel Okrent, appear on screen and discuss Emmet Ray as if he were a real historical figure. They conclude that his late compositions rival those of Django Reinhardt. The framing gives a made-up man a past.
Where to see it: The expert interviews. The critics and biographers talk about Ray's life and legend between scenes.
Questions