I like the way documentaries have gotten increasingly stylized. The very word used to indicate something you had to watch in 7th grade health class. When the great Erroll Morris released The Thin Blue Line, which had the audacity to include recreated scenes for dramatic effect, the purists ran for their fainting couches, It was denied awards consideration because of it.
Ridiculous.
Today’s documentarians know that using visual techniques to further the story is a good thing. Want to call it a “non-fiction” film instead of a doc? Fine.
Nail Bomber: Man Hunt tells the true story of the 1999 nail bombings in London, and director Daniel Vernon isn’t afraid to use cool cutaways, enhanced audio and artful shots to keep this tight 72-minute doc eminently watchable.
Although you could simply Google to find out “whodunnit,” I recommend watching the film with as little advance knowledge as possible. Why? Because the doc plays as a murder mystery. Someone was setting off bombs in London neighborhoods inhabited by immigrants, people of color, and gays.
But who? And why?
It’s immediately apparent that white supremicist groups, or that ideology, are the likely culprits. 1999 London looked a lot like present-day United States: hate groups were flourishing and were being stoked by politicians who were more articulate than their supporters, but otherwise like-minded.
Sound familiar?
Over the course of three weekends, the bombs destroyed a lot, killed some, and raised fears all over the city. We hear from survivors, detectives and, most importantly, we hear from the spy who spent ten years living among the bad guys. But it’s not really him – it’s an actor, whose face is hidden inside a hoodie.
Using an actor’s voice to stand-in for the spy who infiltrated a rightwing organization and, ultimately, helped lead the authorities to the bomber, is one of those stylized choices I was talking about it. For some, it’s a deal breaker – for me, it didn’t matter whose voice I was hearing, I understood the device and I thought it worked.
My only note: once we know for sure who the bomber was, I think it would’ve been helpful to provide more details. We know he is full of hate, but why? Who shaped him from early on? There’s a hint that his homophobia may be from his own unresolved homosexuality, but there’s also evidence that he fancied the attention of a young lady who sent amorous letters to him in jail as he awaited trial (the letters were actually a ruse a detective used to get the bomber to admit that he was sane, a great sequence in the film).
I guess you can’t have everything in a one-off doc that isn’t four hours or 8 episodes long. For me, it was almost enough, and Nail Bomber: ManHunt was a satisfying watch.
Streaming on Netflix | Reviewed by Kyle Osborne
