At the end of last year something stood out to me when looking at best of the year lists. Often documentaries aren’t mentioned on those lists, but American critics named this 467-minute documentary often. I wasn’t able to see it when it was shown here during a festival, but luckily it was shown on TV during several nights. After watching The People vs O.J.Simpson, that other series last year about the trial of O.J., I was curious how this would compare.
Of course the facts about the case aren’t different, but this documentary by Ezra Edelman is much more than just that. It is incredible to think of how much work it must have taken in getting all the material that is used together. Because Made in America looks far beyond this trial. It’s about how O.J. became such a well-known athlete, how he manage to successfully get into commercials and movies, but it’s also about the history of Los Angeles and various violent incidents and how these were handled (both by police and the judicial system). These are all moments which are important to know when looking at the trial against O.J., because it makes it bigger as the members of the jury were carrying all that history with them when looking at the case. Some of them are interviewed and it’s eye-opening. They were locked in a hotel, had no interaction with the outside world and they were able to make a decision within hours after the closing statements. Everyone wanted to leave, go back home and they already had formed their opinion. But besides jurors you also hear people from both the defense team and the prosecutor talking about what took place.
O.J. and Nicole Brown were already having a bad history together and through pictures and letters by Nicole this becomes painfully obvious. The horrible pictures of the lifeless bodies of the victims are shocking. This series doesn’t stop when the trial did, but also shows how destructive O.J. would end up being, resulting in him finally being convicted and ending up in jail (probably for the rest of his life). O.J.: Made in America is something you’ll want to bingewatch and can’t get enough of. This is a must see, even if you think you know everything about this case, because the wider perspective makes you think more about it.
I’ve been putting this off forever, probably due to the runtime. Did you watch in one sitting? I know I’ll like and probably love, just have to pop it in. Great thoughts.
I can imagine, it is daunting to watch such a long documentary. I have seen it in a couple of nights. It was broadcast on national TV and they have a service where you can watch it online later, so I probably watched two episodes per night.
I’m re-watching the whole series right now on ESPN as there’s still some things to learn about as I’m more disgusted at who Simpson is and how he used people for his own bullshit. Even using a community of people he had no connection with to his own advantage. Plus, he would pretty much do things that are just as bad as killing his own wife. Yes, those pictures of those bodies are just horrifying to look at. I had to flinch or block my eyes out from seeing that.
Not something I’d rewatch soon myself, but it is very good.