| REVIEWS and INTERVIEWS "The story of The Jaundiced Eye is a disturbing one that deserves to be told" - Ziggy's Video Realm - April 2004 "This film isn't going to change the policies
about trying child abuse cases because people would rather punish
the innocent than let the guilty go free, but when the innocent are
made to suffer - it's still tragic. This sheds light on some limitations
in our legal system and how a little prejudice can go a long way.
You get the sense of helplessness and frustration the Matthew's lived
with. It's a compelling documentary" - The
Movie Chicks - May 2003 The Jaundiced Eye named one of the top five documentaries of 2000 by The Times Picayune " ...Nonny de la Peña uses the tools of adovocacy journalism to best advantage in a movie exposing the role of homophobia in a child-molestation conviction for which there was no physical evidence' "...*** ... In the wake of the recent "name and shame" campaigns from tabloid newspapers, The Jaundiced Eye is a timely reminder of what can happen when people let their hearts rule their heads." -- Reviewed by El Topo - IOFilm.co.uk Interview with Nonny De La Peña, director of the compelling documentary "The Jaudiced Eye" -- 03/31/03 - IndieRag "In her feature documentary debut, TV reporter Nonny De La Peña examines a harrowing case of injustice in which a mother accuses the gay father of her boy and the boy's straight grandfather of abuse and molestation. Structured as a devastating chronicle of prejudice and homophobia, "The Jaundiced Eye" details a tumultuous decade of trials, imprisonment and emotional traumas incurred by two Michigan men before they were finally released from jail." -- Variety "**** "An eye-opening look at the possibility of an accused pedophile's innocence" - Y2McKay (Worth A Look) ... The Hollywood Bitchslap "...*** 1/2 *... Fascinating on a number of levels, and deeply disturbing through and through. " - TV Guide Online "...This documentary underscores how the zeal to find and convict child
abusers may blind investigators to the truth while shattering the lives
of the accused..." "...The movie paints a vivid portrait of a justice system where well-meaning
but ill-trained social workers use any means necessary to uncover sexual
abuse of children. Their methods, the film asserts, often lead kids
to say what they think adults want to hear..." "...'This film is a terrific documentary that raises disturbing questions
about a failed legal system,' said Ed Guthmann of the San Francisco
Chronicle..." "...the story is a compelling one and shows how effective journalism
can be such a powerful tool..." "...well-wrought study in the persistence of emotional stupidity..." "...The Jaundiced Eye exposes problems with perception in small
Michigan town..." "...A hard-hitting, tough documentary chronicling a gross miscarriage
of justice and a devastating account of prejudice and homophobia from
the producers of the Emmy winning, Oscar nominated Waco: The Rules
of Engagement..." "...'Our legal system is supposed to be about giving the stranger
the benefit of the doubt,' she [director Nonny de la Peña] emphasizes.
'But we usually don't. So the only way you can fight that is by taking
the stranger component out of it and personalizing their situation...' "..The Jaundiced Eye looks at the usual end result of hatred, ignorance
and prejudice, not to mention the mine field that surrounds kids in
court and their various adult advisors and inquisitors.." "...a useful piece of film journalism that underscores the virulence
of anti-gay bias..." "...An unabashedly angry and partisan affair, The Jaundiced Eye works
like the best investigative TV journalism, but without the bogus corporate
pretense to balance objectivity..." "..."The Jaundiced Eye" is a passionate. angry piece of advocacy,
but it is equally, and in consequence, a brave and necessary act of
truth- telling..." "...Most intriguing and scary is the admonition of the inherent dangers
of how easy it is to convince children they have been abused even when
they haven't..." "...The Jaundiced Eye suggests that our prejudices can sometimes cause
us to ignore the evidence before us..." "...a cautionary tale confirming that accusations of pedophilia are
still the ablest way to pursue a vendetta against gay Americans..." "...To the belief that one's ultimate legal defense lies in good old,
hardheaded American common sense, a film like The Jaundiced Eye provides
a chilling contradiction. Juries all aver the country believed testimony
so far fetched it might as well have contained leprechauns, werewolves
and magic wands..." "...provocative points about how the rights of accused child abusers
can be compromised by coerced testimony from victims, overly aggressive
law enforcement and inept defense attorneys..." "...Sorting through the emotions and a legal maze in a trial of father
and son..." "...If somebody’s different, people will bury their reason," she [De
la Peña] explains. "They are so willing to judge and so willing to believe
based on emotion rather than validity and truth. Here it’s that he’s
gay and people are just willing to twist that issue..." "...To the belief that one's ultimate legal defense lies in good old,
hardheaded American common sense, a film like The Jaundiced Eye provides
a chilling contradiction..." "...more than a mere miscarriage-of-justice exposé, it ends up illustrating
some valuable points about how a personal prejudice (in this case, homophobia)
can spill over into harmful, seamlessly delusional behavior, and how
the high emotions inextricably entwined with a subject like child abuse
can prove ultimately self-defeating..." "..."The Jaundiced Eye" raises disturbing questions about a failed
legal system and reminds us, as does "Boys Don't Cry, of the powerful
strain of homophobia in American culture. But it's also the portrait
of a family's nightmare..." "...the finest element in de la Peña's carefully assembled account
is how she doesn't simply state the obvious, but lets the meaty facts
speak for themselves..." "...we need occasional pinpricks like The Jaundiced Eye...The
Jaundiced Eye demonstrates just how this climate can make A.D.
2000's "justice" look suspiciously like the shoot-first, questions-later
Wild West of yore... THE MOVIE CALENDAR - synopsis "...Finally, from the producers of Waco: The Rules of Engagement comes
another doc that really stirs things up..." "...an unflinching investigation of miscarried justice, as well as
of the problems inherent in treating matter-of-factly such emotionally
charged issues as child abuse." "...The Jaundiced Eye" still does a credible job of showing how, as
a victim's rights advocate in the film suggests, the mentality of the
legal system has shifted from using certain checks and balances to prevent
the conviction of an innocent person to ignoring the rights of the accused
in order to make sure the guilty are punished..." "...Like Waco, de la Peña's documentary turns on chilling accusations
and a miscarriage of justice, and proves itself no less compelling or
alarming, though on a far more personal scale..." "...Comprehensive and thoughtful, "The Jaundiced Eye" is as compelling
as it is illuminating..." "...A rarity: passionate, emotionally naked, "show-us-your-tears"
journalism that works..." "...Nonny de la Peña's documentary focuses on the kind of small-town
justice in which people see exactly what they want or expect to see..." "...Documenting the Matthews' decade-long quest for exoneration, The
Jaundiced Eye (from the producing team behind the acclaimed documentary
Waco: The rules of Engagement) is a razor- sharp addition to
the explosive debate over how sexual abuse cases involving children
are prosecuted..." "...This doc by the producers of Waco: The Rules of Engagement
gently and clearly chronicles the pair's gruelling fight for justice
with a surprising amount of humour..." "...It's hard to keep from muttering at the screen in disgust, but
although it's emotionally aggravating, de la Peña cooly lays out the
intellectual and psychological reasons why this travesty happened..." "...What could be a tabloid tale is made poignant by the son's dignified
and articulate participation in the film, and by de la Peña's skillful
working of the story to provide rigorous, intelligent context for both
sides..." |