MIFF NOTES: Tower (2016, Dir. Keith Maitland)

Texas, 1966. A gunman sits atop the university's clocktower and begins gunning down the people down below in what stands as one of the largest mass killings in the United States' history.

Tower, Keith Maitland's celebrated eyewitness documentary, takes an interesting approach to the event, rotoscoping its recreation of the shootings to give him maximum control over what he is able to show onscreen.

I still find the visual style of most rotoscoping, including Tower's, off-putting, though I recognise the freedom-giving distance is has offered Maitland here. Without having to concern himself with melding actors with the abundant archival footage, Maitland gets maximum coverage of the situation and secures moments of real impact in his contrast of styles.

I'm not convinced the pay off quite justifies the film's overall look, which is to say I'm not overly interested in seeing this style of documentary expand to other subjects, but as a one off, it is certainly effective and serves its subject well.

★★★

Trailer:

Tower screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival 2016.

You can check out other films from the festival here.