First Person
The format of the First Person series is what Errol Morris does best: finding unusual people, sitting them down in front of a camera, positioning the camera in the right way, and getting them to talk about what makes them so interesting. And then finding the right B-roll footage to splice in at the right times. Morris's invention of a camera device which he calls the "Interrotron" allows the subjects to see Morris's face as they look into the camera to make it feel more personal. As a viewer you really feel like the person is talking to you.
We do see a few themes running through Morris's selection of people to interview. There are a few people involved with serial killers or murder cases. A couple lawyers with specific types of clients. A couple people who supposedly have brilliant minds but take some unexpected paths in life.
I feel like Morris was a bit prescient in his choices as well. The episode "Harvesting Me" features Josh Harris who has recently been the subject of a full length documentary called We Live in Public. And it's almost impossible for me to not believe that whoever came up with the idea for the recent standardized indie flick Sunshine Cleaning didn't steal the idea directly from the First Person episode "You're Soaking In It". And I think I also read that my favorite Errol Morris film Fog of War started when Morris originally was trying to get Robert McNamara for an episode of First Person and realized this guy had enough to say to fill a full length film and win Morris an Oscar. And now it appears that Morris's next film project is actually a narrative film about cryonics, a subject that was explored in the First Person episode "I Dismember Mama" featuring Saul Kent the inventor of cryonics.
There were a few episodes that were a bit less engaging than the best, but still seventeen episodes just wasn't enough.
Rating: 9/10