2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on May 14, 2017 15:32:39 GMT
This is a truly stunning 2017 Oscar-winning documentary about the life and times of OJ Simpson before, during and after his now infamous murder trial. I watched the entire documentary in a few days when it was on iPlayer. 3 parts, 2 of them 3 hours each the last was 1 1/2 hours but thankfully BBC4 is showing the entire thing in five 1 1/2 hour episodes beginning tonight at 9pm and on every night through to Thursday.
For someone wanting a truly incredible and breathtaking documentary surrounding one of the most tragic falls from grace, I seriously cannot recommend this enough. The first 3 hours have almost nothing to do with O.J but offer some really eye-opening insight into life for African-Americans and it all has ties back to O.J and his place in the public eye.
However, when they focus on O.J and the trial, it's some of the most gripping television making I have ever seen. The footage of the trials, the interviews with key members of the trial and the insight and admissions leave you shouting at the screen! Then you have the fall-out from the trial and how he spirals even further downwards afterwards.
I'm really not doing it justice, but it's morbidly fascinating and for those who think this might be for them, and maybe even those who don't but fancy a challenge of sticking it out, I implore you to watch it. Would be so interested to hear thoughts from those who may have already seen it and from those who decide to watch as it goes along this week!
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2017 15:40:12 GMT
Yep, this was my 4th favourite film of 2016 (yes I go by US release dates and yes I count it as a film).
I really knew nothing about OJ before watching other than some very vague details about the trial but it was endlessly fascinating (once they got past the sports bit at the beginning) and tying in commentary on race relations in America worked really well. The only thing that would have made it better for me is if they had had the same focus on gender (domestic violence, the treatment of Marcia Clark etc.) but the 'People vs. OJ Simpson' miniseries from last year - which I also recommend watching - made up for that aspect.
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2,452 posts
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Post by theatremadness on May 14, 2017 15:54:31 GMT
^ Yes I thought that miniseries was also fantastic. SO dramatic and a brilliant cast, what more could you ask for!
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131 posts
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Post by primitivewallflower on May 15, 2017 16:39:48 GMT
It's remarkable that not one but *two* of the best works of television to come out last year revolved around OJ Simpson.
And I agree with all the superlatives. Such a brilliant job of setting up the cultural context, and conveying just *how* extraordinary an athlete OJ Simpson was, which helps you understand why so many were in awe of him.
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2,041 posts
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Post by 49thand8th on May 15, 2017 16:54:51 GMT
I was in high school when this all went down, and I grew up in an area that was fairly diverse EXCEPT for black people -- we basically had everybody else. That said, having seen the People vs. OJ series was an eye-opener because adult me realized so much more of what was going on than teen me (who hardly even knew any black people growing up). This is one I need to remind myself to watch, so thanks!
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Post by Laineee on May 15, 2017 20:16:25 GMT
My first trip to the US just happened to coincide with the car chase/arrest etc, and it was all everyone we met wanted to talk about. Pretty much everyone was stunned when we told them that OJ's fame hadn't made it to Scotland and we had no idea who they were talking about!
And another vote for this documentary being well worth the watch - an incredible and comprehensive view of the whole saga in the wider context of race relations in the US.
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230 posts
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Post by hal9000 on May 16, 2017 3:41:39 GMT
Having seen the excellent THE PEOPLE vs OJ SIMPSON, I appreciated how it both made the point of how poorly Marcia Clark was treated by the press - and what a very poor lawyer she was. Her off-beam instincts and bad decisions were not as noticed by reviewers as Sarah Paulson and Clark did the media rounds for the series, but the show pulled no punches in showing what a disaster the case thanks the the behaviour on all sides.
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1,936 posts
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Post by wickedgrin on May 16, 2017 14:06:13 GMT
Thanks so much theatremadness for pointing this repeat out on BBC4. I had missed it first time round. Really enjoying it so far...looking forward to the rest.
One of the chilling remarks from one of the interviewees - "OJ was as jealous as he was good at playing football".
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