Studs Terkel

STUDS TERKEL is about a man who has made an iconic history at the Chicago radio station WFMT where he interviewed many important players in decades of American Culture. He's interview Marlon Brando, Woody Allen, John Sayles, etc. The film is a portrait about him, and though it has current interviews with Studs and his peers, it focuses on an historical perspective of his life. The film is essentially a homage to Sterkel as he passed away in 2008.



The documentary is pretty straight-laced in terms of its structure and style by creating as holistic of a picture as they could of a figure like Studs. So, what makes this documentary particularly straight-laced? Well first and foremost, the filmmakers were able to get primary interviews from Studs himself. As a matter of fact, he died short after their very last interview for the film. Arguably, what is more important however is all of the archived footage of Studs interacting with his interviews. All of the interviews he did with WFMT were also archived on tape and used sparingly to add interesting moments in his history. A lot of the tapes were actually turned into books. And finally, there were very many interviews with her peers and contemporaries. The obvious usage of these interviews really helped to illustrate the life and actions Studs was revered for.

One of the most valuable things in a documentary of this nature was to get the voice of the subject in current times, to give a sense of current relevance. I was reminded by Mimi Pickering's documentary in progress we watched earlier in the semester about an older woman who had led many protests and was an activist for rights of the disadvantaged for most of her adult life. These documentaries seemed to be made at the exact right time for their subjects as their stories culminate and their lives end, though not their legacy mind you!

Many considered him the master of America's oral history. And, Anna Deavere Smith states that "he's been absorbing and telling the American story for a very, very long time" and he did that like no else before or after.