False Document - in Film

In Film

The semidocumentary film-making technique popularized in the 1950s used documentary techniques.

The 1973 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (along with the 2003 remake) claims to be based on true events, but this is not the case. It is in reality only loosely inspired by crimes committed by serial killer Ed Gein.

The 1974 film Macon County Line claims to be true, but it is in fact fiction.

The 1978 British comedy film The Rutles was done in the style of rock documentary which treated the fake band The Rutles as if they were a real band. It included mock-ups of album covers and other ephemera as well as fake videos. It also included figures such as Mick Jagger, and Paul Simon as themselves, although it also included other members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles playing various characters as well as numerous recognizable comedy actors, so there was no real intent to fool the audience. The success of the project did, however, lead to the fictional group recording two hit records and actually performing live concerts. The film would start a genre of its own, called mockumentary, and become hugely influential on later similar films, such as This is Spinal Tap and Hard Core Logo.

The 1982 Steve Martin comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid was shot in black-and-white as a parody of a 1940s film noir and included footage of actors from the film-noir era such as Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, and others spliced in with the modern actors. The effect was crude, however, compared to the bigger-budgeted Woody Allen film Zelig, which was already being filmed.

The 1983 Woody Allen film Zelig was an elaborate mix of real newsreel footage from the 1930s and fake footage mixed together with fake interviews with real actors playing themselves as well as actors playing roles to tell the story of the Allen character and presented as a documentary. Although the film looks realistic, the intent was not to actually fool the audience who would have been in on the joke.

The 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, a comedy based around a fictional 1970s rock band, was filmed in the style of a documentary and includes such details as fake album covers and historical videos done in the styles of the late 1960s and 1970s. The success of the film would later lead to actual recordings of the fictional band and concert tours plus press interviews, all done in character.

The 1987 movie Robocop, while not presented as fact in any way, does include several false television advertisements, which have nothing to do with the rest of the movie but become a running gag.

The 1988 British made-for-TV movie More Bad News was another mockumentary about a rock band, in this case an incompetent heavy metal band. It once again included appearances by real musician such as Ozzy Osbourne, The Scorpions, Motorhead and Def Leppard playing themselves.

The 1992 mockumentary Bob Roberts was also a political mystery filmed as a fake documentary. This time, there was no soundtrack album in spite of the importance of music in the film, as the film's writer, director and star Tim Robbins was concerned that the politically right-wing content would be taken too seriously and used by actual right-wing politicians.

The 1994 Tom Hanks film Forrest Gump, while not presented as a documentary of a real character, does contain several sequences that feature the Hanks character inserted into archival newsreel footage of John Kennedy, Gerald Ford, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Apollo 11 astronauts, and others, to realistic effect.

Peter Jackson's 1995 film Forgotten Silver was billed and introduced as a serious documentary, purporting to tell the story of 'forgotten' New Zealand filmmaker Colin McKenzie. A large portion of the viewing audience were fooled until the directors revealed they were "only joking."

A disclaimer before the 1996 film Fargo makes the claim that it is based on a true story, but this was repudiated by its creators, the Coen brothers, saying that people would more readily believe something outlandish if told that it actually happened, per the "truth is stranger than fiction" idiom.

The 1996 Canadian film Hard Core Logo, about a punk band, was done in the style of a documentary. As part of the film's promotional campaign, some ads were placed in music magazines from fake music collectors claiming to be looking for albums from the band. In lieu of a proper soundtrack album, the filmmakers instead produced an album called A Tribute to Hard Core Logo which pretended to be a tribute album to the non-existent band. Ironically, one of the bands on the album, The Headstones, featured singer Hugh Dillon, who also starred in the movie as a singer of the fictional band. Even more ironically, most of the bands who actually did appear as themselves in the movie, such as Art Bergman, The Modernettes and D.O.A., were not on the fake tribute album. A proper soundtrack album would be released much later. The fictional band's music was done by a real band named "Swamp Baby" with vocals by Dillon. The film also features rock journalists and DJs as themselves.

When the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project was released, the extensive marketing campaign claimed it to be a real documentary, compiled from footage discovered abandoned in a forest. After the film's success, a soundtrack album was produced which was supposed to be made up of music one of the characters had on her walkman when she "disappeared," although the film itself has little music in it.

The 2000 comedy Best in Show, made by some of the same actors from This is Spinal Tap, was also done as a mockumentary, this time of various contestants at a fictional dog show.

The 2004 film C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America is a political satire which explores issues of slavery and racism by assuming that the American Civil War was won by the Confederacy. The film is presented as a BBC television documentary which includes false television ads for racist products which, at the end of the movie, are revealed to have been real at some point in the 20th Century.

Like Hard Core Logo, the 2005 Canadian film The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico, about a country rock singer, was also done as a fake documentary with appearances by Kris Kristofferson, Ronnie Hawkins, Merle Haggard and Levon Helm playing themselves. The film was also released with a soundtrack album which pretended to be a genuine album from the fictional singer. There was also a promotional campaign with magazine ads and posters which implied that the character was real.

The 2003 mockumentary A Mighty Wind was made by most of the same people behind This is Spinal Tap and Best in Show and was also done as a documentary, in this case, of three 1960s folk bands doing a reunion concert. The film contained song performances, one of which was nominated for an Academy Award.

The 2006 film The Death of a President was filmed in the style of a television documentary, filmed years after the event, to tell the story of the fictional assassination of U.S. President George W. Bush, and the aftermath, to realistic effect.

The 2007 film Grindhouse, made by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, is presented as a 1970s exploitation film double feature. It included fake movie trailers made to look like those of the era. The illusion was further maintained by artificially aging the film's appearance. (Rodriguez later made actual movies based on the 'false' trailers.)

The 2007 bio drama What we do is secret, about the punk band The Germs, is done in a partial documentary style, with cast members addressing the camera as if being interviewed.

The 2008 film Cloverfield purports to be video footage shot by witnesses of a monster attacking New York City, and recovered by the US Army as evidence. It begins with a title screen claiming the footage was found in "US Site 447, formerly known as Central Park." However, the enormous scale of the disaster shown in the movie makes it impossible that viewers would consider the movie to be true without independent news reports to corroborate its story.

The 2010 film I'm Still Here was another mockumentary. This time, its lead actor, Joaquin Phoenix, pretended to be starting a career as a rapper while apparently suffering a nervous breakdown. During the making of the film and subsequent promotion campaign, Phoenix stayed in character including a notorious interview with David Letterman, and the film maker, Casey Affleck, maintained the ruse that the film was true, only later admitting that it was not.