Our last day in class we watched the film Millhouse: A White Comedy, or as i titled "The Nixon Killer." I say this because it is the first flaming of Richard Nixon on film. This is made by none other than Emile de Antonio. This film follows Emile's usual filming style of no narration. I find it to be more real when I watch a documentary in the style of Emile. The way he edits his films still gets his point across, but he does it by letting the one he is filming destroy his/herself, as he did in this film with Nixon. Emile also seems to be ahead of societies curve. This flaming of Nixon was before his treacherous Watergate Scandal that destroyed himself.
The opening scene of this film was very interesting. He opened with a segment where a man is assembling a wax model of Nixon. It is very organized, neat, and creepy. This ties in towards Richard Nixon himself as he was obsessed with his own personal image. Being good looking must have been a big help to get him into office because what i saw did not impress nor get him my "vote" and why didn't the American citizens realize he wouldn't be good when California didn't elect him mayor.
Onto the actual effects Emile employed. He used his masterful skill of editing once again to portray someone the way he wants without using the "voice of God" tactic most documentaries use nowadays. This also allows for the viewer to use his imagination as to what his scenes/messaging is actually trying to say.
You needed to delve into the first scene with the wax dummy. Why would de Antonio choose to use this clip? Was this Nixon's personality in his view?
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