Louis Theroux - Assessing Style

PERSONAL RESEARCH


As I have been brainstorming ideas for my own documentary, also with my group, I decided to take a look at one of the documentary filmmakers I admire, Louis Theroux.
I have watched most of his documentaries, as they are all available on Netflix, and I wanted to do some further research into his original style.

Louis Theroux's documentaries have an original style, as he chooses a rather friendly approach and really delves into the world of those he is interviewing. He doesn't really give much of an opinion on the things they tell him, and chooses to stay as much on the outside as possible, merely capturing the way people choose to live their lives, not giving his own personal input. I feel that this makes people trust him more, as they don't feel like he is judging them or wanting to change them. He has been acknowledged for the friendly approach he takes, and questioned on whether he thinks that the people in his documentaries see him as a friend, and what sort of risks this imposes on him.

I watched an interview with Theroux, where he discusses one of his more recent documentaries, Drinking To Oblivion, and what it was like to film. He also discusses how he likes to approach his films and some other recent projects he has worked on.

Louis Theroux interview on Peston On Sunday

I also read an interview published by The Guardian regarding Theroux himself and some of his work. I found a particular part of the interview, at the end, which I really liked:

"I’m still wondering how he does it, though; like the show he made with a little fascist child who was calling people faggots. I’d want to sit the kid down and try to change him, to intervene. “No, I go in to tell stories, to reveal the truth and to try to understand. Not to set people straight,” he says. “I don’t go into this with the agenda of saving the world.”"

This quote shows how Theroux views his work, explaining that he just wants to reveal the truth. I think this is a really important thing to remember when making a documentary, that you don't want to go in and try and push your opinions onto people as that will make their attitude with you less casual and they might be more reserved. One of the best things about Theroux, in my opinion, is his attitude with the people he speaks to and includes in his documentary. The fact that he is so calm and casual with them, makes them want to speak to him. Even in their body language you can tell they are comfortable inviting him into their lives, meaning you get a more natural and accurate depiction of their lives and what they are like as people.

I know when working on my own documentary, I want to try and capture the natural emotions and opinions of the people I interact with because I think if you give people an impression that you're judging what they're going to say, or that you think their opinion is wrong, then they will be less likely to be honest with you and will come across more reserved or as if they are holding something back.

I also looked at another clip where Theroux discusses some of the problems he has encountered when filming with some extremists, that he might not share the same views as. This was interesting to me because he likes to be neutral and not try and give too many opinions, so watching him talk about how he dealt with it was intriguing.

 Louis' Most Memorable Moments - BBC Brit

Louis Theroux is one of my favourite documentary filmmakers, so looking at his style was very influential for me. I want to continue to look to his work for guidance, but still develop my own style.