 What is ironic about "Unmade Beds" rejection from larger US distributors?
Dirty Laundry Now and then, a documentary film comes along that makes us re-examine the rules that unofficially govern the genre: Can there be a middle ground between fiction and fact? Can a documentary use scripted scenes and yet remain ontologically authentic? How much can you stylize material before you alter the reality that you're striving, at least in theory, to capture? Unmade Beds , Nicholas Barker's " 'real life' feature film," has proudly worn its mongrel status as a "directed" documentary of single life in the big city, employing, in the face of criticism, what amounts to a cackling-punk defiance. The movie tracks four aging New Yorkers--two men, two women--through their lonely dating rituals, in the process depicting a universe of lusty, coupled-up haves and downcast, excluded have-nots, all viewed Rear Window -style through rectangular openings in the massive apartment houses in which they reside. This is not cinema vérité , and nothing has been left to chance. The director selected his four subjects from many hundreds of potential candidates, followed them around for months, and then scripted their monologues and dialogues to reflect what he says he saw. Calling his own film "an exercise in mendacity," Barker goes on, "I'm quite happy to tell lies about my characters and even collude with their self-delusions if it enables me to communicate larger dramatic truths."
 Smaller theaters will likely feature "Unmade Beds" merely for its controversial nature
 Larger theaters won't show "Unmade Beds" despite the fact that they show many similar films with less public contention  In overcoming criticism from larger US distributors, the four main characters of the film finally receive the redemption they've been seeking  Smaller theaters will likely feature "Unmade Beds" merely for its controversial nature  Its rejection from US distributors is a reflection of how American society spurns the film's four main characters