Tower

2016 documentary

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A retelling of the mass murder at the University of Texas in 1966 when a gunman started shooting people from a tower.

This might be the most vibrant narrative documentary I've seen since Man on Wire. I'm not sure if it should be as vibrant as that one since it deals with tragedy and horror instead of a whimsical Frenchman, but with an original style and structure, Keith Maitland managed to create something vibrant.

This doesn't focus on the shooter at all. I think his name was used a single time actually. Instead, it focuses on some of the victims, some of the witnesses who did nothing but observe and try to keep as safe as possible, and some people who risked their lives to either comfort or save people who have been shot. And of course the pair of cops and the deputized civilian who ended up on the tower with that gunman. Even if you would have told me what had happened to all of these characters, I think it still would have been edge-of-the-seat drama throughout. This unfolds almost in real time, telling the story chronologically except with one Donovan-aided flashback that gives a little backstory for a pair of characters. Going in, you know how many people were killed and how many were injured. You know what happens to the gunman. And you still find that you're eagerly waiting to see what happens next. It's great storytelling.

What makes it vibrant, however, is the style. Maitland uses interviews, real news bulletins from the day, pictures and video footage from 1966, and animated recreations, all mashed together into one unique documentary soup. The rotoscopic animation--sometimes mixed right in with real settings and people so that we sometimes see an animated car driving along a road with real cars--gives the whole thing an otherworldly feel. I'm not sure if that was the intent although I'm sure this whole thing had to feel otherworldly to anybody on that campus that day. My fear would be that it would almost take away from the real characters, somehow make them seem less real, but I don't think that was the case. In fact, there's one animated sequence (that flashback I mentioned up there) that nearly brought a tear to my eye because of how human it made the victims. Maybe it was just the Donovan "Colours" that does it for me.

That tower is a beautiful structure, by the way, but I can't imagine what it must symbolize for people who experienced this. It's haunting seeing it here, whether it's in modern day shots, an animated version, or from 1966 footage.