The Staircase

I am going to try something a little different here for the next few days. I am going to depart from talks of food and books and write a little bit about some films I have watched over the past few years. Documentaries, to be exact. Before you let out that yawn and eye roll, hear me out. I once was a docu-doubter as well. Thinking they were long pieces on things I could not care less about - the life cycle of the house fly or someone's aunt's neighbor's cousin's dreams of owning the most cats. And certainly there are films out there like that, but the ones I am talking about will not be. Promise!

To kick things off, the first documentary I picked and watched of my own accord - The Staircase. This documentary chronicles the preparation and trial of Michael Peterson, a Durham-based author accused of murdering his wife by pushing her down the staircase. Peterson contends that his wife, after drinking and taking a Valium, lost her balance and fell. However, there are some curious blood spatter and odd injuries that seem to not match up with a simple staircase fall. The filmmakers follow the defense team and Peterson, so the story is one-sided, but it is filled with some unexpected plot twists. Ones many mystery writers could not think up themselves. Admissions of bisexuality, the curiously similar death of a friend 18 years earlier in Germany, and questionable documentation and testimony. If you like John Grisham, CSI, James Patterson, and Law & Order, there is a good chance you will like this documentary. It leaves the viewer wondering for him- or herself the guilt or innocence of Michael Peterson.