Joe Berlinger
| Joe Berlinger | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Joseph Berlinger October 30, 1961 |
| Occupation | documentary film-maker |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse(s) | Loren Eiferman |
Joseph "Joe" Berlinger (born October 30, 1961) is an American documentary film-maker.
Berlinger graduated from Colgate University in 1983.
In collaboration with Bruce Sinofsky, Berlinger created such documentaries films as Brother's Keeper (1992),Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills (1996, about the West Memphis 3),Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2000),Some Kind of Monster (2004),Crude (2009),Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (2011), and Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (2014).
Although Berlinger primarily is known for documentaries, he has made a number of films, such as Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000).
The first film Berlinger directed was the documentary Brother's Keeper (1992), which tells the story of Delbart Ward, an elderly man in Munnsville, New York, who was charged with second-degree murder following the death of his brother William. Film critic Roger Ebert called it "an extraordinary documentary about what happened next, as a town banded together to stop what folks saw as a miscarriage of justice."
Berlinger's original plan for Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was more of a psychological thriller and mystery that was intended to cause the viewer to question whether or not the characters in the film were insane, hysterical with hype or truly possessed, and to blur the distinction between fiction and reality. Prior to the film's release, the studio Artisan was not confident in the film's subtle approach, and forced Berlinger to add a number of random scenes of violence into the film. This led to significant criticism of the film—the film received a 7% approval rating from top critics, 13% from all critics, and 18% from the audience as reported by RottenTomatoes.com (as of May 2016).
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