The Thin Blue Line

This film is like a spiral - one of those spirals that spins like a whirlpool in the opening of VERTIGO. The viewer gets dizzy. The scenes repeat themselves, and each time one perceives something new, or a new point of view. THE THIN BLUE LINE has been described in many ways: as a puzzle, an investigative documentary, and a detective story. My favorite definition is that of critic Terrence Rafferty: ‘This is a documentary as an epistemological thriller.’ Many say that the film’s greatest merit is in the way Morris mixes fiction and reality. Yet in my opinion THE THIN BLUE LINE is included in this list for one single reason: because of this film, a man on death row was set free. And that is no small feat for a simple documentary. João Moreira Salles