Errol Morris' First Person - The Complete Series

Hailed by Roger Ebert as "one of America's strangest and most brilliant documentary filmmakers" (Chicago Sun-Times) Errol Morris (The Fog of War) brings his unrivalled talents to the small screen for a stylized series of intimate interviews with a unique and fascinating array of people. With the aid of his "Interrotron" an innovative camera device Morris invented to maintain merciless eye contact with his subjects the Oscar®-winning* director puts his odd assortment of eclectic characters and atypical topics under the microscope to produce "revelatory whip-smart television" (Baltimore City Paper).System Requirements: Running Time 491 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 027616919083 Manufacturer No: 1007848 Product Description

fascinating

brilliant. frightening. funny. tragic. comforting. discomforting. there are even several explosions if that's important to you. If you have any interest at all about the world you live in and the people you share it with - just get it.
February 8, 2008

Obssession or The Making of Idols

A series of 22 minutes first person narratives. A few episodes, in the 3rd disc are almost a full hour length. They are told sort of like confessions, being us the confessors, becuase they always face the camera and the director isn't present.

The variety of characters presented are as wide as you can think of. In some cases the characters themselves are more interesting/weird/uncanny than their own stories, and the format offers a privileged window into their psyches as they confidently speak to us. Other times it's the plain facts of their lives, the ineluctable fates, the improbable coincidences that strike us as being so uncanny. Many times it's a mix of both. Each and every viewer can pick what captivates his or her attention most.

If I had to find the nexus among these series I would say: They are all people who are obssessed with something, and that something becomes a sort of god. In some cases it may be a passion, but in others it has absorbed the meaning of life.

I found more common ground. There was very little altruism among these folks: everything was about them and they were the center of the universe, so to speak, take away one or two exceptions. I guess it's in the nature of every obssession that it should be so, whether it's a benign obssession or a sick/diabolical one.

A documentary that should make you think. July 22, 2007

A Great Collection of Stories by a Master Director

I was not aware of the First Person series when it was broadcast on cable. I stumbled across this collection as I started appreciating the unique style of Errol Morris' directing. The stories are excellent and the music is perfectly written to compliment the quirkiness of each character. This DVD set inspired me to purchase the 2 CDs of "Music from Season One (and Season Two) of Errol Morris' First Person" by John Kusiak. January 6, 2007

Morris' Best Work

To me, this series is the pinnacle of Morris' career. It combines the elements of his other works, but does so in a fashion that is chillingly effective. For instance, the whimsy of works like Vernon, Florida and Gates of Heaven is seen here, but often within the framing of larger, haunting elements, many times that reverberate even beyond the narrative frame: the internet guy who offers himself up as an attraction (thank you, PT Barnum), but sees himself as one of handful of the 20th C's great artists, the lawyer who goes from defending gangsters to rappers, congratulating himself for sensing the changing 'game.'

The best of these episodes can literally rival the greatest documentaries. The Rick Rossner episodes (2 half hour bits) about his time on the show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' are the best, followed closely by the two segments with Denny Fitch, the passenger/pilot how helped land the United flight in '86 that ended up in an Iowa cornfield.

This is a huge value, and these pieces bear many viewings. Truly amazing. Somehow, too, they bear the lightest authorial imprint, which from Morris, can sometimes have the imperious overtones of his friend Werner Herzog. August 13, 2006

the Real real world

In an era of reality television shows, one would think these shows whould actually had a variety of interesting people from all walks of life, giving candid pictures of our collective society. However, most of the so-called reality shows give nothing of the sort, but Morris has brought it all out in his masterful series. These are the real people from the real world, and are a collection of first person conversations of the greatest honesty and diversity ever recorded. There is something of interest to anyone watching this series, and is a must see for any one interested in documentary films about people. Nothing could top this! June 12, 2006

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