 |
| Frederick Wiseman Photo: Charlotte Henard |
One of Boston's most famous sons, the filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, has died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 96. He leaves an extraordinary body of work following a career focused on capturing the day to day realities of the American experience.
Making a splash right at the outset of his career in 1963, with The Cool World, followed four years later by The Titicut Folies, Wiseman demonstrated a level of skill which could have won him success in any genre, but his core interest lay in exploring the functioning of his country's great institutions. In works like State Legislature and City Hall he delved down into the vital processes of US democracy. He never considered himself a documentarian, however, approaching each film by way of a very particular ethical and aesthetic process.
He never added narration nor any other form of spoken commentary to his works, and was happy to edit them to whatever felt like their natural length, regardless of the preferences of funders or prospective exhibitors. In his early years he was warned that this would also deter audiences, but film fans soon came to seek him out, and with strong support from leading figures on the festival circuit, his new works were always eagerly anticipated.
As well as working in the US, Wiseman spent time overseas capturing portraits of other national institutions in works like La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet and National Gallery.
Wiseman retired in 2025 but continued to take an interest in film as an observer.
