The confusing timeline raises the question: How else did the narrative shift for our benefit?
HBO
HBO
HBO's six-part The Jinx ended last night with a huge revelation: Robert Durst confessing into a hot mic while he's in the bathroom, "Killed them all, of course." (Read more about the series here.)
Even if you've spent the previous five episodes slowly being convinced of Durst's guilt in three murders — of his first wife, best friend, and neighbor — Durst's bathroom mumblings, which sound like a conversation between him and a private devil, are incredibly unsettling. They're also a perfect, and seemingly earned, payoff.
Yet that confession — and the entire sixth episode — wouldn't have nearly as much power if not for the deft filming and editing choices of filmmaker Andrew Jarecki and his team, including a timeline that seems to have been significantly manipulated at several points to create a more linear and compelling narrative.
The conclusion of The Jinx is the sort of neat ending we get from fiction films, not real life, the events of which seldom unfurl in an order conducive to compelling storytelling. It's clear that the team behind The Jinx manipulated the order of events around this second interview. It's possible and probable that other audio and visual portions have been manipulated as well.
Certainly, every story, no matter how "real," involves specific choices as to how that story will be told. It's easy to remember as much when it comes to narrative (fiction) cinema; it's harder when it comes to documentary (ostensibly nonfiction) movies. How exactly did The Jinx — an unquestionably compelling, entertaining, and addictive television show — narratively manipulate its viewers?
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