Primary
by Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Robert Drew
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: John F. KennedyDirector: Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker, Robert Drew
Cinematographer: Richard Leacock
Editor: Richard Leacock
Cinematographer: Albert Maysles
Editor: Albert Maysles
Cinematographer: D.A. Pennebaker
Editor: D.A. Pennebaker
Editor: Robert Drew
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 53 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-11-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Video Group
Movie Reviews of Primary
Movie Review: Very bad documentary
Summary: 1 Stars
I heard about 'Primary' on NPR. I rented it with the impression that it would be a very candid documentary about the 1960 Democratic primary. The candidness, I was told, was on account of it the being the first time video cameras followed candidates on the campaign trail. The show talked about the movie being a glimpse into a time where candidates were not self-censored as much and were more themselves on the campaign trail.
But, the hosts' talk of seeing Humphrey's "common touch" or him "railing against the eastern media," and their talk of Kennedy and his "youth appeal" are just hype and over-selling. It looked no different than a modern campaign (same pandering, etc.) except that the candidates were different and the people at the rallies wore different styles of clothing. Of everything that I disliked about the movie, it was that NPR hyped it up to be something it wasn't.
I'm not a student of documentary filmmaking, so I can't say whether this was a truly groundbreaking movie. But as for its entertainment value, I can say that I do watch documentaries, and this was one of the worst I've ever seen. There was no overarching narrative that tied everything together and gave the movie any kind of momentum; so you felt like you were just sitting there for an hour, not going anywhere. The images were shown entirely out of context, with little narration.
If you want to see film of Kennedy or Humphrey, or of people in little Wisconsin towns from 1960, this movie may be for you. But if you're looking to spend an hour of your life watching an interesting documentary about campaigns before the advent of youtube and the 24-hour news cycle, then I suggest you look elsewhere.
Summary of Primary
A new kind of reporting, a new form of history, Robert Drew promised John F. Kennedy. He was proposing that a revolutionary, small camera operated by cameraman Ricky Leacock and sync sound recorder operated by himself, live with Kennedy day and night forA bygone era of political campaigning is the subject of Primary, a fascinating cinema verit? portrait of a crucial step on John F. Kennedy's path to the White House. Using the most portable sound and film equipment available in 1960, pioneering documentarian Robert Drew and a crew of innovative, important filmmakers in their own right (including verit? legends D.A. Pennebaker, Richard Leacock, and Albert Maysles) were given a week of round-the-clock access to Kennedy as he toured the cities and towns of Wisconsin, campaigning against rival front-runner Hubert Humphrey in the state's pivotal primary election. With minimal narration and ground-breaking, no-frills technique heretofore unseen in TV news reporting (this film originally aired as an ABC news special), Drew gives equal time to Humphrey, but it's obvious that JFK's charisma, and the quiet campaign-trail grace of his wife Jacqueline, would carry them to eventual victory. The intimacy of these images is astonishing, captured just before television would come to dominate the political process. With a "cliffhanger" ending, Primary was inducted into the Library of Congress' prestigious National Film Registry in 1990, and it's an essential companion to Drew's 1963 film Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment. --Jeff Shannon
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