Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills

[freqflyer]

It's a parent's worst nightmare. Your child has been missing for days when a call comes. It is from the police. They have found your child, dead in some ravine. Not only are they dead, but they have also been tortured and mutilated before being killed in what appears to be a ritualistic fashion. Your world is utterly annihilated, and things will never, ever be the same.

Now imagine that this experience happens not just to one set of parents, but three. Imagine also that the murders happen in a ridiculously small town, one where everyone knows everyone else, and strangers stick out like beer in a Baptist church. How do the parents react? What about the town at large? Add to this tragedy the confession of a young man, along with an eyewitness statement that implicates two other teens.

This is the premise of 'Paradise Lost,' an incredible documentary that follows the story of the murders of 3 8-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers, and the subsequent arrest of three West Memphis, Arkansas teens: Jessie Misskelley, Jason Baldwin, and Damien Echols. The event separates the town into two factions: those who scream for bloody vengeance, and those who stand by the professed innocence of the three teens. Berlinger & Sinofsky, the directors, are able to treat the material with both accuracy and respect, letting the tale and the people involved speak for themselves, unlike many lesser documentaries.

The use of Metallica as a soundtrack is inspired. Two of the three accused (Baldwin & Echols) are fans the band as well as other heavy metal musicians, and much hay is made in the courtroom of this (unfortunate, given the circumstances) fact, along with its perceived connection with satanism and the occult in the mostly Baptist town. The use of the band as a soundtrack sets the mood impeccably.

I really enjoy well-made documentaries, but the problem with the genre as a whole is that there are far too few good ones because most docs err either on the side of biased exploitation or dispassionate objectivity. At their worst, the former become little more than propaganda, while the latter become boring and self-consciously educational. 'Paradise Lost' manages to steer the middle ground between the two, sacrificing neither factuality nor emotion.

I won't say more about the events in the film, because to say too much about them would spoil the experience for someone who is approaching the movie with fresh eyes. What I can tell you is that, in the course of the film, I experienced every emotion that the best fictional drama has ever been able to evoke: rage, sympathy, sadness, fear, and yes, even humour. Although the film is 2 and a half hours long, the running time is barely noticeable, as the editing and the sequence of events unfolds naturally and engagingly.

If there was any criticism of the film I would make, it would be that they didn't spend enough time talking to the police and the prosecutors determined to try the three teens. The motives and reasoning behind their arrests remains opaque. This may or may not be unfair, however, as these parties might have had a very strong interest in not talking to the filmmakers given that their case against the teens was so flimsy to begin with.

Overall, this was an incredibly well-made and sensitive documentary that did its best to present every event and person in the film as objectively as possible. Not since 'Capturing the Friedmans' have I seen a human-focused documentary that was able to present reality in such an unvarnished way. I'm looking forward to screening the sequel, and I hear a third installment is also in the works.

My score: 88