The documentary “Capturing the Friedmans” records an incident in American history. Although it’s not a topic that generally ends up in schoolbooks, it’s history nonetheless -- of the most intimate kind – about a sordid crime and one family’s conduct in the face of devastating accusations. And what makes this film unique is that it is not a Sunday newspaper’s sensationalized translation of a small town scandal. Or even a journalist’s in depth interpretation. Instead much of it is the family’s own video and audio chronicle of their tragedy and dissolution.

Arnold Friedman was a respected teacher in Great Neck, Long Island with the classic “three handsome sons and a lovely wife” when one day the police came to the door and arrested him for molesting young boys. What happened next was anyone’s nightmare: a chaotic blur of conflicting stories, a community in a uproar, overenthusiastic investigators, and a thousand unanswered questions.

Eventually both Arnold Friedman and his son Jessie were charged with hundreds of counts of sexual abuse. The charges and trial tore the family apart as the Friedmans spent their waking hours wrestling with their fate and how to deal with it. But there was one difference. They recorded it all. The Friedmans loved the camera, so to speak, and had a peculiar way of baring their most private agonies on film for public consumption. For years they had made home movies of family events -- birthdays and holidays. Now they made their own home movies of blistering family arguments, personal confessions, and chaotic discussions as they tried to deal with the accusations and the havoc they were wreaking within their home.

But make no mistake. “Capturing the Friedmans” has nothing to do with the meaningless exhibitionism that we call “reality television.” Instead this is “reality filmmaking” i.e. documentary filmmaking, at its finest, and one that has put that genre back on the map. It’s also a tour de force by Andrew Jarecki– who won the Sundance Grand Jury Award for this first time feature effort. Jarecki found himself invited into a family to parse their chaos and to try to separate truth from lies, denial from reality. . Along the way he realized that a straight path was no longer possible. Were Arnold and Jessie Friedman guilty as charged? Or were they victims of mass hysteria? Like the audience, Jarecki becomes fascinated with possible outcomes and parallels our uncertainty and his own on film.

But in the end "Capturing the Friedmans" goes beyond guilt or innocence, beyond its own plot. Jarecki conducted several interviews with the Friedmans and used extensive footage from the family archives. Through Jarecki's direction and Nancy Baker’s terrific editing, comes a rare unfiltered view into the failure of a dysfunctional American family.

As a detective observes early on about the community of Great Neck: “These are wealthy professional families – nice, well, kept homes.” We are treated to long drive-by views of manicured lawns and expensive cars in driveways. But "Capturing the Friedmans,” begs the question – what really lies behind the two-car garage, backyard barbeque, or the other trappings of a “normal” suburban family? As it turns out in the case of the Friedmans – a family in such utter disarray that they were incapable of dealing with each other or themselves.

If this is what happens behind one set of well-kept doors in Great Neck Long Island in the 20th century, who are these people and how did they get there? We peer and squint into the screen trying to understand their motivation and fears -- I found myself trying to figure out – what are these people feeling? In some cases I wondered -- are they feeling anything at all?

There are those who would say that "Capturing the Friedmans" doesn’t belong in a history, that it is merely “Schadenfreude” – our fascination with someone else’s tragedy-- that keeps us watching and transfixed. And, yes, there is an element of disbelief as we watch the story unfold. But “Capturing the Friedmans” also provides extraordinary insight into the failure of an American family – and allows us the ability to ponder the how’s, the why’s, and the wherefores. For those who would say it represents only one perverse exception to our American culture, it would be wise to remember the old adage – those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.