Documentary Movie Analysis-Who Killed Vincent Chin Essay

Documentary Movie Analysis-Who Killed Vincent Chin - Essay Example Documentaries are more non-fictitious and real-life based, unlike commercial flicks; their purpose varying from showcasing reality to enlightening and educating the rural masses. Whatever be the case, documentaries are real life depictions on screen. Documentary films fall under varied genres, such as Authored Documentaries, Fly on the Wall, Docu-soaps, Docudramas, and the like. The first two are captures of real life instances, while the latter two are enactments of what has really transpired. Thus, documentaries stand for ‘Truth’. The documentary, ‘Who killed Vincent Chin’ was directed by Christine Choy and Renee Tajima. It is in the form of a docu-drama, exploring the real incident, by using characters to play the real-life ones. The cast includes Renee Tajima and Ron Ebens. The documentary explores the concept of racial discrimination in America, against an Asian-American immigrant, the flaws in the judicial system in America and above all, the sheer struggle that immigrants undergo in the process of assimilation and adaptation to the American culture and falling in line to conquer and realize their ‘American Dream’. This paper attempts to analyse the documentary, the various techniques used and how the documentary has been shot, to add value to the concept and the idea in particular. The story-line of the documentary reflects the real-life incident, wherein an Asian-American, Vincent Chin was murdered haplessly, by two Americans, Ron Ebens and his step-son, Michael Nitz. The murder happens after a scuffle between the two, at Fancy Pants, a Detroit topless bar. The murder takes place outside the bar, in a corner, with eye-witnesses watching the gruesome act, where Chin is shown beaten with baseball bats. While on the surface, the concept is that of a hapless murder occurring in the midst of