The Thin Blue Line - 1988 - video Dailymotion
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The Thin Blue Line is a 1988 American documentary film by Errol Morris, about the trial and conviction of Randall Dale Adams for the 1976 shooting of Dallas police officer Robert W. Wood. Morris became interested in the case while doing research for a film about Dr. James Grigson, a psychiatrist known in Texas as "Dr. Death" for testifying with "100 percent certainty" of a defendant's recidivism in many trials, including that of Randall Adams. The film centered around the "inconsistencies, incongruities and loose ends" of the case, and through his investigation, not only comes to a different conclusion, actually obtained an admission of Adams' innocence by the original suspect of the case, David Harris. The "thin blue line" in the title "refers to what Mr. Morris feels is an ironic, mythical image of a protective policeman on the other side of anarchy".
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The original was posted on /r/documentaries by /u/jfever78 on 2024-02-18 22:07:33.

I’m posting this here, because according to my search it’s not been posted in over six years. This is my fifth or sixth time seeing it, it’s my favorite documentary, and I think the best true crime documentary ever made.

It was very controversial when it was released because it was also the first documentary to use reenactments, and I believe the academy refused to consider it for an Oscar on these grounds.

Reenactments are way overused these days and often poorly done, but I feel like this film did it perfectly, they’re more subtle, artistic and don’t tell you what to think. I’d be curious to see what people here think of their use and whether it should be allowed, and specifically their use in this film.

Also, for the sake of those that haven’t heard of or seen this film, maybe refrain from spoilers in the comments? It’s a pretty influential film, in that it affected the case directly.